


[PROTECTOR]

by dimsumJon



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: 2jin - Freeform, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-01-21 13:42:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 47,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21300392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimsumJon/pseuds/dimsumJon
Summary: Blockberry is an international conglomerate that took the world by storm. CEO Jaden Jeong felt that it was soon time for his heir, Jeon HeeJin, to take over. Even though she was young, she was brilliant, diligent, and headstrong. But Jaden had a fear an enemy may come after her, so he decided that it was necessary to hire a personal bodyguard for HeeJin, one who will always stay by her side and protect her at all costs.Inspired by Rap No No No's video, Bodyguard
Relationships: Choi Yerim | Choerry & Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul, Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu, Jeon Heejin/Kim Hyunjin, Jo Haseul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip, Park Chaewon | Go Won/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye
Comments: 27
Kudos: 148





	1. Prologue

HeeJin awoke, slightly dazed and confused. Her ears were painfully ringing, she could barely make out people screaming in the distance as the sound of sirens pierced the air. She could hardly open her eyes, everything was a blur. 

“HeeJin!...HeeJin!”

“Are you ok? HeeJin!”

A figure hovered over her calling her name, she could feel the figure’s hand tremble in panic as the figure tried to clean off HeeJin’s face. The voice was a familiar one, a voice that has always comforted her, a voice that is always by her side, it could only belong to HyunJin. Her vision finally focused on her face, dirt and soot-covered HyunJin’s face as blood streamed down the side of it. HeeJin finally came to her senses and realized what had happened just a few moments ago, there were gunfire and even an explosion. 

Someone tried to assassinate her. 

She scanned her surroundings, everything was in chaos; people scrambled to help the injured, fire and debris scattered around the intersection, bodyguards sprinted to aid HeeJin and HyunJin, she focuses back on HyunJin. HeeJin’s eyes watered at the sight, a stream of tears started to roll down her face. HyunJin was injured, badly injured and in no shape to worry about her, she never wanted to see HyunJin like this and it pained her to think it was because of her.

HeeJin cried, “Why aren’t you leaving?! You can’t die because of me!”

HyunJin gently wiped the tears from HeeJin’s face. “I’ll protect your life until my last breath. As long as you live, I won’t die.”

~ ~ ~


	2. Coffee & Bread

The room was dark, only lit by a phone that laid in a pool of blood. The child could only gaze in disbelief in what she witnessed.

Please wake up from this nightmare.

She calls for her parents, but there is no response from the motionless bodies that rest in a puddle of red. A shadow creeps slowly to the girl. She couldn’t move, as if she was petrified in place, frozen in terror. She tries to call for help, but her voice refuses to comply. The shadow stops and slowly turns to her. All she could see was the lifeless stare from the eyes of a pigeon’s head...

HeeJin abruptly wakes up in a cold sweat, her panting breath echoed in the dark bedroom. Ugh, that horrid dream again she thought to herself. 

She had this dream too often, but no matter how many times she’s had it, she could never stop herself from trembling in fear. The girl finally decided to collect herself, as if it was part of her morning routine, shutting her eyes as she consciously took slow deep breaths. She reluctantly grabs her phone from her bedside table and checks the date.

“Of course,'' she sighed, this dream only becomes this vivid on this day, the day her parents were murdered. 

~ ~ ~

“Good morning Mr. Jaden”

Jaden nods to his personal bodyguard as he enters the penthouse living room, “So who are the candidates you have selected?”

“Sir, I have handpicked the best from our agency according to your requirements.”

Jaden grabbed the files and sat down in his favorite chair that overlooked the city skyline. He sifted through the paperwork and carefully went over each detail of the documents.

“Good morning father.” As HeeJin shuffled in and sat on the couch in front of her father.

“Oh, HeeJin, you are up early.” Jaden was startled from his daughter’s sudden appearance.

HeeJin rubbed her temples and responded, “I had trouble sleeping, so I figured I would have a head start today.”

Jaden concerningly looked at her, “Are you still having those dreams?”

The girl shifted her eyes from her father and looked around for anything to change the subject. She spotted the files in her father's hands. “Do you have more meetings today? You seem like you have been busy.”

He already knew the answer to his question, he let out a sigh and continued with the conversation. “Oh, this? Well, I am thinking about hiring a personal bodyguard for you.”

“What do you mean? I already have guards that escort me.”

“Well this is different, they will be by your side even at school and wherever you go.”

HeeJin rolls her eyes, “I thought we were over this already, it’s already hard enough for me to make friends because of my position. Now I need to have a bodyguard by my side all 24/7? It’s not like I’m the daughter of a king or president.” 

She has fought over her father many times about having a personal bodyguard, she dreaded the thought of having her small amount of freedom being taken away. She figured she could achieve victory again.

“HeeJin, I have been meaning to tell you something.” As Jaden got up and sat next to HeeJin.

“What is it?” She stammered.

Suddenly, his tone became more serious. “You already know you are the next heir to Blockberry. I believe you will be ready to take over in a few years.”

HeeJin’s heart sank, her eyes widened and stuttered, “Wh-What do you mean? Where are you going?!” She panicked, she never imagined Jaden would ever leave her after taking her in. She didn’t want to lose another father.

The father held his daughter’s hand, she could feel her hand tremble. “HeeJin, you are very diligent and brilliant, in fact, you are almost too smart for your own good. I know you will do great things. Blockberry is your parent’s company, I was your father’s best friend and business partner for years and I know this is what your father would have wanted.” 

He looked at his daughter’s watery eyes and knew he needed to reassure her. “I won’t go anywhere, I will watch over you as you run the company, but I planned on making an official announcement soon. This is why you will absolutely need a personal bodyguard now.”

HeeJin let out a sigh of relief, but still couldn’t utter a word. She was in complete disbelief and shock about the news. She knew Jaden has been educating and training her to lead her parent’s company ever since he adopted her, but she wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon, she was only 24. 

“Now go get ready, we need to pay a visit to your parents and tell them the good news, ok?” Jaden said reassuringly.

HeeJin nodded, speechless, and scurried to her room. Jaden let out a sigh and looked at the documents over again. He remembered the countless arguments he had with HeeJin about her safety and security and thought about her wishes as well. He tossed the documents aside and glanced over to his bodyguard.

“I have a new set of requirements, I would like another list of candidates.”

~ ~ ~

“HyunJin! Kim HyunJin! Kim HyunJin!!! AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Jungeun finally had enough and violently shook HyunJin, she couldn’t believe how much energy she had to waste to wake up this corpse, she usually wakes up easily, as both of them are early birds.

HyunJin groggily woke up, and glared at Jungeun. “What is with all the noise so early in the morning!”

“YA!” Jungeun snapped. “You obviously forgot that you have your first day of work this morning.” She flipped her hair back and placed her hand on her waist and sarcastically said. “And as your ‘mom’, I thought I was being nice enough to wake you up.”

HyunJin glanced at the clock and all her color drained from her face. “AHHHHHHHH! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier!!!” As she stumbled out of her bed and onto the floor.

“What do you think I have been trying to do for the past 10 minutes! You’re alarm even woke me up from across the hall, I don’t know how long it’s been going off for!”

Jungeun gave her that look as HyunJin struggled to get dressed. 

“I will never understand how or why you were selected as a personal bodyguard, you are a complete mess, but I will admit, your athleticism is incredible. Even the boys can hardly keep up with you.”

HyunJin glanced at her and mimicked her face. “Don’t give me one of your infamous stank faces while you are trying to compliment me!”

Jungeun smirked. “Well good luck on your first day. Fighting!” as she tossed a piece of toast towards HyunJin.

HyunJin instinctively caught it in her mouth as she ran out the door, Jungeun couldn’t help but burst into laughter at her ridiculous roommate. 

~ ~ ~

HyunJin sprinted through the city, taking any shortcut she could, jumping and dodging any obstacle in her way. It was quite a spectacle to see, as if an Olympic runner was racing through the rush hour crowd...with a piece of toast in their mouth. 

AISHHH, I knew I shouldn’t have drunk last night HyunJin thought to herself. She wasn’t great at holding her alcohol, but it was a special occasion. She completed her executive bodyguard training last week, was selected for this new job and was notified just yesterday, and today started her trial period as a personal bodyguard. Jungeun even organized a party with their close friends, Hyejoo and JinSoul. How could anyone not celebrate?

As HyunJin’s head was in the clouds, regretting her decisions from the night before, she spaced out for just a moment. 

*BAM*

HyunJin found herself on the ground, but more importantly, her meal was on the ground!

“NOOOOOO! MY TOAST!” She screamed as her arms stretched out to the poor piece of toast as if it was a dying loved one. 

How could she let such a precious meal go to waste.

“Uhm, excuse me.”

HyunJin looked up, she just realized she was in a public space agonizing over her fallen meal. Her face grew red with embarrassment as people around her were trying to assess the situation, why was this girl screaming over a slice of bread. 

She then noticed the most beautiful boy she has ever seen knocked to the ground. The boy was slim and seemed shorter than herself, his body was almost delicate, maybe even too feminine for a boy. He was sporting worn-out white hi-top Converse, baggy jeans, an oversized plaid button-down over a white tank top with an oddly large blotched brown design in the middle. She slowly looked up at his face...no wait...her face?! 

She assumed the girl in front of her was a boy because she dressed in such a tomboy fashion. But there was no mistake, her face was too gorgeous to be a boy...maybe even too gorgeous as a girl. Her facial features were astonishing, she almost looked foreign and doe-like, perhaps she is part French? She had silky straight ebony hair that cascaded past her shoulders. Even though her eyes were behind round lenses, you could see they were filled with confidence and if you dare to stare deep into those dark pools, you would be caught in her spell. Her mesmerizing beauty. 

She questioned why such a beautiful girl would dress so boyish and almost sloppy. A girl rushes towards the tomboy and helps her up. The other girl was overflowing with cuteness, she was dressed elegantly in a short white dress, she had reddish-brown hair and fluffy cloud-like bangs. Her heart-shaped smile was infectious, making even HyunJin wanting to smile. She sees the way the cute girl looks and smiles at the tomboy, even comfortably entangling her arm together as if they have done it countless times. HyunJin connected the dots. Ah, they must be together, she thought to herself. Despite their polar opposite fashion sense, they looked so good together. They were both beautiful, they could even be models. How could such a picture-perfect couple even exist?

“Astonishingly, you care more for a piece of bread over someone you carelessly tackled.” the tomboy scoffed. “And who runs with a piece of toast in their mouth anyway? Is this a cliche anime encounter?”

The words that came from her mouth didn’t even register as she was shocked by her velvety deep soothing voice. She wasn’t expecting such a voice coming from her, but at the same time, it suited her well. HyunJin wanted to hear more. 

An empty coffee cup rolls slowly towards HyunJin and it lightly brushes her fingers. She suddenly snaps back to reality. She quickly stands up and realizes that the strange brown blotchy shirt design on the tomboy was actually a large coffee stain. 

HyunJin quickly bows down, “I-I am sooo sorry-” struggling to find words to say after being caught in a daze thinking about the beautiful couple. 

“It’s about time you apologized.” As the tomboy glared.

The cute girl let out a giggle. “Oh stop Heekki.”

HeeJin lightly hit Jiwoo in the shoulder, “Chuu- I mean- Jiwoo, don’t call me Heekki in front of a stranger.” 

“Ya! You just did the same thing!” The two laughed together as if they forgot HyunJin existed. 

They even have cute nicknames for each other, HyunJin really couldn’t think of a more adorable couple. It was even making her wish she had someone like that in her life.

“Oh, how rude of us.” Jiwoo casts a wide smile on her face and reaches out her hand toward HyunJin. “I’m Jiwoo and this is HeeJin.”

HyunJin was startled by the friendly gesture, she shyly smiled and reached out to shake her hand as she blurted. “I-I’m HyunJin.” 

She spotted HeeJin in the corner of her eye and unconsciously kept her eyes on her. HeeJin’s brows furrowed at her as her lips began to pout, she looked impossibly cute. “Again, I’m so sorry about running into your girlfriend.” 

HeeJin and Jiwoo both looked at each other, surprised, HeeJin began to blush and Jiwoo could only stifle her laughter as she tried to cover her mouth with her free hand.

“AISHH!” HyunJin yelped, suddenly realizing she was in a rush. She quickly swiveled her body away from the couple. “I gotta go! I’ll buy you two coffee if I ever run into you again!” She waved goodbye as she ran off.

HeeJin still shocked by the last comment HyunJin made, she muttered. “That girl is unbelievable.” 

~ ~ ~

HyunJin finally was able to take a break from her long day, exhausted and starving. Her stomach growled at her as if it warned her it would eat her surrounding organs. She fell into the living room chair, letting out a sigh. HyunJin has been at Blockberry’s main building all day and it was almost evening. The moment she arrived, she was already being scolded for arriving almost an hour late. It was her first day on the job and she already missed escorting her executive and she was now walking on thin ice, on the verge of losing her new job. HyunJin was thankful that Mr. Jaden was so forgiving and kind, unlike Ms. Wong, who was the head of security of Blockberry and lectured her for a good two hours. 

The last part of the agenda was to officially meet Jaden’s daughter. She was supposed to meet her this morning and start escorting her today, but because she was late, she was told to wait in the penthouse until Jaden’s daughter came back. She wondered what kind of person Jaden’s daughter would be like, the person she needed to protect. HyunJin was lost in thought until the elevator chimed and the elevator doors opened. 

Mr. Jaden smiled as he walked towards HyunJin. “I appreciate you waiting after being here for so long.” 

HyunJin quickly stood up and gave a polite bow. “Oh, please think nothing of it, I apologize for arriving late on my first day on the job.”

Jaden chuckles, “Yes, I’m sure you won’t let that happen again. Am I right?” As he irks his brow towards her. 

“Of course sir, it won’t happen again,” she says confidently.

“Good. I know Ms. Wong can be an earful”

HyunJin releases a small grin at the comment. Now that she was alone with Jaden, she couldn’t help but wonder. Why was she selected? Surely there were more qualified and veteran agents for this. She needed to satisfy her curiosity, she mustered up her courage and asked. 

“Mr. Jaden?” she asked timidly.

He looks over towards her and raised his eyebrows, signaling he acknowledged her question.

“W-Why was I selected to guard your daughter?”

Surprised by the kind of question she asked, Jaden cleared his throat. “It’s because I love my daughter.”

HyunJin gave out a confused look, trying to grasp and understand the answer he gave her as if she had to decipher some sort of code.

Jaden saw the confusion in her eyes and chuckled, his voice became soft and warm. “Maybe because I am also being a bit overprotective, but it has been hard for HeeJin to live a more normal life. She faces the pressure of becoming the next CEO for Blockberry, so she focuses most of her free time on her studies. She’s a very smart girl, she’s even skipped a few grades in middle school and high school, but this only made it harder for her to fit in. It’s also intimidating for others to get close to her because of the aura she gives out. She looks cold and has such a powerful drive behind her as if nothing could slow her down. Because others know she will eventually become the next CEO, she doesn’t want people to become close to her for ulterior motives.”

HyunJin nodded slowly, she could sense the father deeply loved his daughter, not only by the words he spoke but also by his gentle tone as he talks about her.

“But how are you being overprotective?” HyunJin adds. As soon as she asks, his head turns away from her and his expression saddens, which makes her almost regret asking.

Jaden continued. “When she was young, a horrific disaster happened to her...I didn’t want anything like that to happen to her again. So I always have guards posted close by her, ready to rush in if an event like that were to occur again. But I didn’t want my guards so blatantly close, as I said earlier, it’s hard for others to get close to her as it is. It would be even harder if guards were clearly around her, I wanted to value my daughter’s wishes as well.”

HyunJin didn’t expect her simple question to dive into a serious topic. Her eyes wandered the room as she fumbled around with her fingers and cautiously asked. “What exactly happened to her?”

The father closed his eyes for a moment and finally responded. “I think it would be best if she tells you herself.”

He looks at the girl once more. “To finally answer your question. You are the same age as my daughter. If someone is going to be with her every day, I also wish that it would be someone that she could be close with. I think it is a blessing you were on the list of candidates. I know this isn’t part of the job description, nor am I asking you to be friends with her, but I just wanted to let you know.”

HyunJin was touched by the father’s love, his words tugged at her heart.

*ding*

The two look over towards the elevator.

“Ah, she is finally home!” His face instantly brightens. 

As soon as the elevator doors open, HyunJin swears an angel has descended as if the elevator came from heaven. His daughter elegantly wore a creamy lace dress that outlined her hourglass figure perfectly. Her hair was parted slightly to the side as long dark wavy locks fell past shoulders and framed her exposed collarbones, which sent shivers down HyunJin’s spine. The most captivating part of this so-called angel was her facial expression and how she carried herself as she walked towards them. Her expression was almost cold and oh-so confident, it made HyunJin’s skin crawl with goosebumps while the hairs on her arms rise. She was lost in her gaze, she could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage. 

But something seemed so familiar with this girl. She couldn’t put her finger on it, surely she would remember anyone who looked like this. She noticed that the dark-haired girl had her arms linked with another girl...Jiwoo?! HyunJin’s eyes widened, was Jiwoo two-timing HeeJin?! She looks back at the angelic dark-haired girl and suddenly realizes and was shocked by such a transformation.

HeeJin took a few steps in, as her heels clicked against the hardwood floors. “I’m hom--” before she could finish, she saw the girl behind her father point at her.

“AH! The beautiful lesbian couple!” HyunJin yelped.

HeeJin almost gave a panicked look to her father, her face became flushed with a rosy pink color. Jiwoo clutched to HeeJin’s arm tighter as she began to laugh. Jaden chuckled to himself, he knew seeing the two would cause others to misunderstand their relationship, Jiwoo was always so clinging towards his daughter. 

HeeJin turned her attention to the girl behind Jaden. “Bread girl?!”

Jiwoo finally recovered from her laughter and wanted to join the spectacle, she held out a peace sign and exclaimed. “You owe us two cups of coffee!”.

~ ~ ~


	3. Kiss & Tell

So here we have a strange girl...more accurately the bread girl joining us for dinner tonight HeeJin thought to herself. She was still in disbelief that HyunJin called her a lesbian in front of her father...though she was right about Jiwoo. She’s been together with her current girlfriend, Sooyoung, for about four years. Sooyoung was one of the few close friends that HeeJin had, and coincidentally, she brought the two together. 

HeeJin was puzzled why HyunJin was here as she studied her from across the table. She didn’t notice earlier this morning because of her frustration, but after getting a good look at her, HyunJin is stunningly beautiful. She carried this natural beauty about her with black hair that was silky smooth that any light that reflected off of it turned into a glowing sheen. The face she casually wore brought a mysterious aura that surrounded her, and her large round eyes added more to that mystery. Her fair skin looked impossibly smooth and soft, and she had a fit and slender figure, you can tell she was athletic.

She needed to fill her curiosity. Who is this stranger in her house? Was she dad’s new secretary? Maybe some model? “Dad, why is this bread gir-- HyunJin here?”

Jaden stopped eating his food for a moment to answer his daughter. “Oh? Do you already know her name? Have you met?” 

HeeJin scoffed at the memory. “Yes, it was very brief and...sudden.” Jiwoo snickered, also remembering their encounter this morning. 

HyunJin sternly stood up and bowed to HeeJin. “Good evening Ms. Jeon. I apologize for the late introduction. I am Agent Kim HyunJin and starting today. I shall be your personal bodyguard. I will put my life on the line to protect you.”

She was caught off guard by the sudden professionalism act she carried. With the encounters she’s had with her so far, she seemed like someone that wouldn’t take anything seriously. HeeJin couldn’t tell if this was a joke or not and couldn’t believe that such a stunning beauty is her bodyguard. She irked her eyebrow at her father. “Is she being serious?”

Her father nodded; there were no signs of amusement; he was serious. “She is telling the truth. I selected her out of 10 other candidates deeming that she would be perfect for you as a bodyguard.”

HyunJin didn’t hesitate to look and respond directly to the daughter. “Please excuse my lack of experience. But I have been thoroughly trained and have excelled in everything.” 

HeeJin’s face only showed uncertainty. “Well, if my dad selected you, then I will have to trust in his judgment.” Trying to hide the doubt in her voice. “Also, please don’t call me Ms. Jeon, that sounds weird. You may call me HeeJin.”

HyunJin let out a sigh of relief and sat back down and quickly went back to devouring her food to satisfy her hunger finally.

Jaden noticed that HeeJin and Jiwoo were dressed rather formally. He looked over at the girls and asked. “Was there a special occasion tonight?” 

Jiwoo smugly nodded, her face brightened to talk about their evening. “I had my debut concert tonight, and it went so well!”

“Omo? Are you a singer?” Asked HyunJin as she reaches for more food.

HeeJin proudly looked at Jiwoo, like how an older sister would look proudly at her younger sister. “Yes! And she sings amazingly well! She is finally achieving her dreams!” Jiwoo couldn’t help but feel flattered by her friend’s words as her cheeks grew red.

HyunJin congratulated her. “You need to let me know when your album comes out! I’ll definitely buy it!” Jiwoo ecstatically nodded in response with her cheeks stuffed with food.

After dinner, the girls decided to move their conversation to the living room. Jiwoo was eager to befriend HyunJin as they waited for HeeJin. 

HeeJin came up to the girls with a few glasses and a bottle of dessert wine to share. The wine helped loosen them up, mainly for HeeJin and HyunJin, as they still were awkward with one another. They talked and laughed for a couple of hours. Eventually, the bottle of wine was empty.

“I swear, I thought you two were together, I’m so sorry for assuming you two were in a relationship.” HyunJin was embarrassed by her outburst earlier that night.

“It's ok. We get that a lot! It’s funny because we have kissed once, actually a few ti--” Jiwoo quickly covers her mouth as if she was surprised by her own confession.

Heat rushed to HeeJin’s face, and her ears were glowing a bright red. She recalls every detail of her their first kiss. She was 18, and Jiwoo was 19, and it was late at night. HeeJin offered her friend to stay at her place since it was close to the party they went to, and she didn’t want Jiwoo out alone at night. 

They secretly drank some wine from her father’s collection, and it only took a couple of glasses for them to get tipsy. Eventually, they ended up in HeeJin’s bed, and her room was dimly lit while their favorite ballads faintly filled the room. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the atmosphere, the late-night, the wine, or a combination of it all, but they talked about romance. They laughed and teased each other as they compared their ideal type of boy and their perfect first date. 

At some point, the chatter stopped, and they began to stare deeply into each other's eyes. They lay face to face under the covers; their arms enveloped the other with their legs intertwined. Minutes pass, but they didn’t utter a word nor sound. Neither of them has ever dated anyone before, and they noticed a glint of curiosity in each other's eyes. Curious to know what it was like to be with another person. Was it as glamorous and unbelievable as books and movies make it out to be? They often held hands, hugged, and at times, slept in the same bed. They never really felt anything like how books described. How you suddenly feel the fluttering of butterflies from within just by the slightest touch. How you crave and miss the warmth of an embrace how a moment without the other makes you feel empty. The only thing they haven’t done was...kiss. As if their minds were connected, they slowly leaned in, and their bodies compressed tighter together, while their eyes fluttered closed. 

HeeJin vividly remembers her heart racing, thumping against her chest. Her hands clenched tightly to the back of her friend’s shirt, not knowing what to expect. What would a kiss feel like? What would it taste like? She was so nervous, but she wasn’t alone, she knew her friend felt the same. Their lips lightly pressed against each other for just a moment. Jiwoo's lips were soft and supple, and she could faintly taste the mixture of her strawberry flavored lip balm and wine. They slowly pulled apart and looked at each other once more. Jiwoo held HeeJin tighter, and again they leaned in, this time with more intent and harder as if their mouths were trying to embrace the other while their tongues danced. HeeJin lost track of how long or how many times they kissed, she blamed the alcohol, but that night only left her with more questions.

Lost in her memory, for some reason, HeeJin could hear Jiwoo recite their first kiss...wait...she was revealing their entire secret! 

“Chuu!” Making Jiwoo realize she was speaking her thoughts out loud. “AH! I’m sorry Heekki!”

A muffled cough in the background broke the silence. All eyes turn to Jaden as he left his bedroom to retrieve a glass of water in the kitchen. Realizing that he somehow made an awkward moment even more uncomfortable during their girl talk. He quietly told his daughter and the girls goodnight and swiftly retreated back to his sanctuary.

HeeJin was utterly flustered and scowled at Jiwoo then at the bottle of wine, blaming the alcohol once again. She regretted her offering of the cursed red liquid.

Jiwoo nervously giggled at the situation. “It’s ok. Your dad had suspicions of our relationship before. He even asked me if we were dating at one point. He came to me, knowing you would be too embarrassed if he asked you.”

HeeJin couldn’t deny her words. She would be way too embarrassed to admit to her father if she dated another girl or if her father thought she was, but she didn’t know why. Did her father care if she was with a girl? When she becomes CEO, would it affect how her colleagues and public see her? Even she didn’t know her own feelings.

Jiwoo gazed at her friend, wondering if she should tell her what that night meant to her. This was the first time they have ever talked about it. Her old feelings that she held and kept from her dear friend were resurrecting and swelled up inside her chest. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

HeeJin met her gaze and knew she saw the conflict in her eyes. She knew she was trying to tell her something and reassuringly nodded at her.

Jiwoo broke eye contact as she hugged her body towards her knees, her body becoming smaller; she tried to hide her flustered face in her knees as she shyly whispered. “H-Heekki, you were my first love. After we kissed that night, that’s when I knew I was attracted to girls, attracted to you…” 

HeeJin was at a loss of words. Why was she only mentioning this now? Has she meant to tell her all these years? She tried to make her voice as sincere as possible. “Chuu, why didn’t you say anything to me?” 

The friend smiled and hugged her legs tighter as she continued. “After our kiss, I saw the puzzlement in your eyes. We were so close I could feel your heartbeat. Our hearts were racing before our kiss, but yours didn’t continue to race as mine did. I pretended to sleep when we finally decided to rest, but I couldn’t sleep, my mind was only filled with you...you never mentioned that night or kiss again.”

HeeJin felt an overwhelming feeling of distress and guilt. She unknowingly made her dear friend endure such an ordeal on her own. She thought back of all the times her friend tried to bring up that night, but HeeJin would unconsciously try to avoid it or shut it down before she could ever get a word out. “Chuu, I’m so sor--”

She shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize. Sure I waited a while to see if my unrequited love would be fulfilled to see if you were ready to talk about it, but something even better happened. I was able to meet Sooyoung because of you. After you introduced us to each other, we instantly clicked. I opened up to her about my feelings for you, and she supported me. But at some point, I developed strong feelings for her, and now we have been together for almost four years, and I believe she is the one for me. If it wasn’t for that night, that kiss. I might have still been trying to find myself. I might not have ended up with her. That night is a very precious memory for me.”

HeeJin rushed to her friend’s side and almost knocked her down as she gave the warmest embrace she could muster. “I had no idea you were going through so much,” as her eyes started to gloss over. She regretted not talking to her friend about that night, how she hurt her because she didn’t want to open up about her confused feelings she set aside. 

HeeJin never seriously thought about dating, mainly because she didn’t have time. She liked the idea of it, and thought maybe someday she would find someone. She was completely immersed and determined in her studies, always turned down confessions from random boys. She was aware of the rumors about herself, being a princess. That everything is handed to her, and most people want to be close to her because of her status and looks. Most of the people around her were shallow and fake, which is why she kept her distance from others. 

HeeJin held her friend tighter. Jiwoo let out a tearful smile, she gently rubbed her friend’s back, trying to reassure her. “Heekki it’s ok, don’t cry, I am happy and thankful that night happened.”

Fully absorbed in their moment, the two close friends completely forgot HyunJin was quietly listening and observing them. The two friends were embarrassed as they openly shared their feelings. 

HyunJin was trying to hide the wide grin on her face, but why can’t she stop herself from grinning? She should be used to these types of conversations. She has heard similar stories from her close friends before. Hyejoo with her girlfriend Chaewon and JinSoul with Yerim. But for some reason, she thought this was the beginning of a new feeling, a feeling she hasn’t felt before. Maybe it was because of HeeJ-- she shakes the thought. No, I can’t. 

I am her bodyguard. 

But, when did she start to feel this attraction to her? When she first laid eyes on her elegant beauty? When she first heard her velvety voice? When she heard HeeJin might have a small chance of being attracted to girls...meaning she may have a chance with her?

HeeJin recomposed herself and finally broke apart from Jiwoo to sit next to HyunJin. She leaned towards her with fire in her eyes. She was determined to get something embarrassing out of her now. “Ahem, well now that you know our embarrassing secret, you need to tell us something.” Jiwoo also sat up and eagerly nodded in agreement and excitement.

HyunJin felt her heart rate slowly increase as HeeJin closed the distance between them. She was so close, close enough that her velvety voice sent tingles throughout her body. She couldn’t help but stare at her lips, imagining being in Jiwoo’s place when they kissed. To lose track of all time and just be with HeeJin alone in her bed. HyunJin shook her head, and her eyes didn’t know where to look as her mind was in a jumble. She needed to answer HeeJin, realizing it has been a few minutes since she last spoke. She wanted to share a personal moment too, and she wanted to become closer to HeeJin. The first thing that popped in her head was to reveal she may be attracted to HeeJin? No! No no no, she banished the thought. 

HyunJin couldn’t think of anything else other than HeeJin. Frantically, her eyes scattered around the room, trying to avoid HeeJin’s stare. She knew if she made eye contact, she would instantly be lost in her eyes, maybe even be tempted to close the distance even further. Finally, she found something, an excuse, an escape, she spotted the time on the clock was almost midnight.

She quickly stood up, and the two other girls were startled by the sudden motion. “Uhm- Ah, I need to go. It’s getting late, and I afford to be late tomorrow. Goodnight!” She rushed towards the elevator before she could be intervened.

“Yah! That's not fair!” As Jiwoo pouted as the door closed.

~ ~ ~

HyunJin finally made it back home and clumsily climbed the steps to her front door. She didn’t feel like reaching for her keys to unlock the door so she called for her roommate, “Jungie! Jungieeeeeeee!”

The door swings open. “Yah! Don’t you know how late it is? You will wake up the neighbors.” Jungeun quickly pulls her stumbling roommate in the apartment and shuts the door.

HyunJin immediately noticed JinSoul and Yerim cuddled on the couch. “HyunJinnie!” They called out. She ran to them and gave them a big hug and joined in the cuddle session.

Jungeun rolled her eyes, oh great another person to take care of. She couldn’t help but notice. “You went out drinking, didn’t you? Was your first day of work that bad?” She knew when HyunJin drank; she starts getting clinging and irrational. Reluctantly, she joined them on the couch next to her snuggled up friends. “So you gotta tell us, how was your day? You arrived late, didn't you?”

HyunJin sat up and pouted as she crossed her arms, she let out a sigh. “They scolded me, and I almost lost my job.”

They all laughed at their pouting friend. “Did anything else happen today? You were out all night?” JinSoul asked.

HyunJin subconsciously twirled her hair around her fingers and lightly blushed. “Uhm--”

Yerim caught the subtle notions from her. “Who is it? Who did you meet?!” Her face lit up with excitement and grabbed HyunJin’s hand as if her life depended on it.

“Was it a boy?” Jungeun indifferently asked, but HyunJin had no response or reaction.

JinSoul grinned ear to ear and cocked her eyebrow at her. “Or perhaps a girl?”

HyunJin could only blush more and said nothing.

“AAHHHHHH!” Yerim screamed as she wildly flapped her hands, she could barely contain her excitement, as if she couldn’t before. “Who?!Who?!Who?!” 

The other two girls were shocked, their jaws slightly agape. Jinsoul was only half-joking and wasn’t expecting this kind of response, while Jungeun was expecting it to be another lame guy.

HyunJin has only dated a few guys in the past, but her relationships never really lasted that long. Usually, she got bored with them, and at other times, they would be too weirded out by her real personality after she got over her initial shy and timid phase. But hearing she was crushing over a girl instead of a guy was news to her friends. 

The girls only leaned closer to HyunJin and intently stared at her, eager to know more about this mystery girl. All she could do was bite her lip, not knowing if she should say who, not knowing what to say, not knowing if her new feelings were genuine or not. 

~ ~ ~

Jaden could feel the slight awkwardness in the morning air between his daughter as they walked down the long corridor towards the press conference. He knew he wasn’t supposed to hear what was said last night.

“It’s ok if you are attracted to girls, I don’t care who you love, as long as you are happy.”

His daughter almost choked by the sudden declaration and tried to maintain her composure. “I-If that were the case, I would have dated Jiwoo.” 

“Mhmm.” He hummed.

But she felt a strange sense of relief after her father told her that. But why? HeeJin took a quick glance behind her to see HyunJin, and she let out a slight smile and nod.

They stopped in front of the double doors, and the father looks towards his daughter. “Are you ready HeeJin?”

She looked up at her father with confidence. “As ready as I'll ever be.”

~ ~ ~


	4. Past & Present

Guarding HeeJin was mostly uneventful these past few weeks. HyunJin imagined how movies portray being a bodyguard would lead an action-packed life, well, wrong. It’s not like explosions, and assassins will come after anyone that has a bodyguard, and it’s not like HyunJin was protecting the prime minister or anything. She’s mainly befriending a daughter because of her overprotective father, right? Either way, she didn’t mind protecting HeeJin at all. If anything, she looked forward to it each day. HyunJin followed her around campus when she had to attend classes and essential meetings to familiarize herself with the company. But her favorite was when it was just the two alone in HeeJin’s room as she studied and worked. That was because HeeJin didn’t want HyunJin to act as her bodyguard, they talked and laughed as if they were friends hanging out in her room. HyunJin always worried if it was ok to be this lax, though, so she ever tried to remain alert. 

HyunJin has grown accustomed to being by HeeJin’s side, and she thinks HeeJin feels the same way or at least hopes she does. It didn’t take long for HeeJin to become comfortable around her bodyguard. Not long after her secret with Jiwooo was exposed, she already considered her a friend. 

Ever since the press release of her becoming CEO in a few years, she had worked harder than before, if that was even possible. Balancing her current studies in school and taking on a few responsibilities for the company, she was wholly absorbed in it. HyunJin was a bit worried about her. She thinks that HeeJin was putting too much pressure on herself, on top of the stress that was already there, to begin with. 

HyunJin softly called out. “HeeJin...HeeJin”

HeeJin let out a soft sigh. “Hmm?” 

HyunJin grew a bit worried. She has been at it all day and evening, taking no breaks and sometimes forgetting to eat meals. She would constantly push herself to work and study late nights, sometimes HeeJin would even ask HyunJin to stay the night in the guest room to keep her company it’s happened fairly often, HyunJin also keeps some of her clothes in the guest room closet just in case. She could only imagine how her friends would tease her if they knew she spends the night with her crush so often.

“I think it’s time to call it a night, HeeJin.”

“No, I need to analyze this data to prepare a presentation for the next meeting.” HeeJin furrowed her brow as she continued to work.

HyunJin could only let out a sigh. “Ok, but right after, you need to rest.”

HeeJin only gave a slight nod as she focused on the work before her.

It was cute watching her work, HyunJin thought. She spent a lot of time with HeeJin, and she couldn’t help but stare at her unbelievable beauty. She has practically remembered her facial features and habits perfectly. The way her desk lamp causes her face to glow in her darkroom, it’s like how the moon shines at night. Her jawline was defined and prominent against the contrasting light from her lamp. How her round glasses perfectly rest on the bridge of her cute nose. She always lets out an adorable sound, almost like a squeak, as she yawns and stretches, relieving her tension and tiredness from her body. Her favorite is when she slightly furrowed her eyebrows and scrunches her nose when she doesn’t understand something. When she is in deep thought, she always purses her lips and softly prods her supple lips with her pen. Her mole was perfectly placed by her left eye and just a faint speckle of a mole in the middle of her right cheek as if God himself decided where they were set so that every feature of HeeJin could be perfect. HyunJin could stare at HeeJin for hours as her new unknown feelings also grew.

~ ~ ~

HeeJin woke up from the sun peeking through her window, blinds as the rays gently warmed her body. She didn’t even remember going to bed, like most nights, this past couple of weeks. She reluctantly got out of her bed and sluggishly prepared for her day. 

As HeeJin finally was ready for her day, she opened the door and smiled, her bodyguard already standing by her door waiting for her.

“Good morning, HeeJIn.” The bodyguard smiled brightly by the sight of her friend.

“Good morning to you, HyunJin,” HeeJin responded vibrantly. She quickly walked over to the kitchen to prepare her much needed coffee.

“Oh HyunJin, can you please get my phone in my room. I think it’s on my bedside table.”

The bodyguard swiftly went into HeeJin’s room and spotted her bedside table immediately, but didn’t see her phone. She scanned the rest of the room, and the neatly made bed had no trace of her phone, her cluttered desk only had scattered papers and books. She decided to check inside the drawer of the bedside table. Her hand was a bit hesitant to open the drawer, thinking it would invade HeeJin’s privacy a bit, but she quickly brushed the thought away.

Immediately, she found an old tattered photo on top of a small, faded pink journal, which looked like a dairy. HyunJin couldn't resist her curiosity and gently took the picture from its resting place. The photo had faded a bit and even yellowed some. The edges were worn and frayed, and there was a small tear down the middle of it. She could tell that the photo has been held and looked at a lot, there were flattened out wrinkles and a few drops of water stains on it. HyunJin leaned in closer to the photo to see more details of the family that was in it. 

There was an adorable little girl in the middle, her hair was neatly braided, and her smile was filled with innocence and glee. HyunJin smiled and recognized the young HeeJin in the photo. The woman on the left must have been the mother, she was gorgeous, resembling HeeJin, you can tell where HeeJin got her beauty from. Her eyes shifted over the right, and she was puzzled. The man didn’t look like Jaden, who was he? Maybe an Uncle?-

All of a sudden, the photo vanished right in front of her. HyunJin promptly looked up and was startled to see HeeJin, who snatched the photo from her hands. She was so focused on observing the picture she didn’t feel HeeJin’s presence, but what startled her was HeeJin’s glare. She never saw HeeJin like this, not even when she accidentally knocked her down when they first met. Her glare was harsh and piercing, and they were almost threatening. Her eyes were slightly glossed over, almost as if she was trying to hold back some tears.

HeeJin could only sneer at her bodyguard. “I didn’t tell you to snoop around.” She quickly slid the photo in her back pocket and stormed out of her room before HyunJin could even mutter a word.

HyunJin felt small, almost a bit scared of HeeJin, but more afraid that she may have ruined their budding friendship. She closed her eyes and just imagined kicking and scolding herself. She shouldn’t have looked in her drawer and should have listened to the voice in her head. She could only pray and hope that their relationship wouldn’t be broken because of this. She took a deep breath and quickly followed HeeJin out of the room.

~ ~ ~

HyunJin was thankful the day was finally almost over. She’s never had a day feel so dragged out before. This was because instead of HeeJin’s chipper self, she only gave HyunJin the cold shoulder the entire day, she didn’t speak a word or even acknowledge her bodyguard was with her. HyunJin doesn’t know how she will deal with HeeJin when they are alone in her room to study and work. What was usually HyunJin’s favorite part of the day, she was now dreading for the long incoming night. Maybe she could somehow make it up to her? The entire day, HyunJin thought of multiple scenarios and ways she could try to apologize to HeeJin. Of course, she also wondered what that photo meant to her; why did she act so differently when it was discovered. HyunJin was in deep thought and almost didn’t notice that HeeJin suddenly stopped as they were walking home. All the taller girl could see was HeeJin’s back slightly tremble, her back almost looked frail and small. 

HyunJin slowly reaches out her hand towards the girl in front of her. Her hand paused in the air, and scared HeeJin would swat her hand away. She decided to tap the girl’s shoulder anyway lightly. “HeeJin, are you ok?” HyunJin cautiously asked.

HeeJin abruptly turned around, almost startling HyunJin from the sudden movement, her eyes were furiously looking around. She looked panic, like a small child that was lost and separated from their parents. Her breathing started to become shallow and uneven; HyunJin could only wonder what was happening.

HyunJin grabs HeeJin’s shoulders, trying to look into her eyes, but they looked past her, still searching. “HeeJin I’m here, what’s wrong?”

The quivering girl’s hands were restless and with a shaky voice, “I-I lost it.”

The bodyguard was confused. “Lost what?”

HeeJin’s lips started to quiver. “The picture, I lost the picture.”

She broke from her bodyguard’s grasp and frantically looked on the ground and continued to walk down the path they previously walked, retracing the steps and places they’ve been. HyunJin knew the picture must have meant a lot to her without HeeJin having to tell her. She quickly joins her side, also searching and looking around at the ground. 

Hours pass and night fell; they were still searching for the lost photo. HeeJin was still frantic, unable to calm down. 

“HeeJin...I think it’s time to go home now.” HyunJin was cautious with her words. 

“No!” HeeJin refused and shook her head. “I need to find that photo.” She sounded desperate, almost like her life depended on that photo.

HyunJin firmly grabbed her hand, “We can look for it first thing tomorrow, ok? It will be easier to find it during the day.” She tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but HeeJin continued to shake her head and weakly tries to break free from Hyunjin, but finds no success. 

Somehow HyunJin was able to convince HeeJin to head home, well more like dragging her home. HyunJin carefully set HeeJin on her bed, and she was trying hard to keep her tears back. Until a single tear slipped its way through her eyelashes as if a dam broke, tears started to stream down her red cheeks. HyunJin couldn’t stand idly by as HeeJin was hurting. She didn’t care that she was ignored all day, seeing her friend cry broke her heart.

She kneels in front of the crying girl, and she places her hand gently on her cheeks. HeeJin let out a soft whimper from the sudden contact, forgetting HyunJin was there. The bodyguard tries to put on a comforting smile as she gently wipes the constant stream of tears. HyunJin didn’t know what else to do to stop the girl from crying, so she instinctively wrapped the girl in her arms and placed her head against her chest. This was the first time HyunJin embraced HeeJin. Even though this wasn’t the time for it, she couldn't help but feel her heart race, but HeeJin didn’t notice as she tried to bury her face into her bodyguard’s chest. 

They stayed like that for almost an hour, HyunJin was gently stroking HeeJin’s hair as her face was still snuggled against her. It took her a moment for her to realize that HeeJin had fallen asleep in her arms. She reluctantly laid her across her bed and carefully pulled the covers over her, and she wishes she could hold in her arms forever. HeeJin’s cheeks were still flushed with red, her eyes a bit puffy, but she looked peaceful and beautiful as ever despite crying just moments ago. HyunJin leans over her friend and brushes strands of hair behind her hair and plays with her hair between her fingers. 

HyunJin couldn’t help but feel partially responsible. If it weren’t for her curiosity, her friend’s precious photo would have never left its place in the drawer. Suddenly it came to her, with new motivation, she swiftly and quietly left HeeJin’s room and out in the night.

~ ~ ~

HeeJin suddenly wakes up in the middle of the night. It was a regular occurrence because of the same dream that her mind can’t seem to stop replaying. In a few moments, she came to her senses and remembered what happened a few hours ago. She recalled crying into HyunJin’s arms from losing her precious photo and saddens at the thought. 

“HyunJin?...” She calls out for her bodyguard, but there was no response. 

She takes a glance to check the time on her phone, and it was 3 AM. Of course, HyunJin wouldn’t be here now, and she must have gone back home. For some reason, she feels lonely. After being in such a warm embrace earlier, she felt cold. She remembered how comfortable HyunJin’s arms were, how she fits perfectly into them despite being so torn up about losing her treasure, she warmly smiles at the memory. HeeJin let out a heavy sigh when she also recalled how she treated her friend yesterday she needed to apologize to her immediately. She wanted to hear her voice now, regretting not talking to her yesterday. She couldn’t have known how much that photo meant to her. But she didn’t want to open up about her past yet. 

Suddenly, the bedroom door bursts open, HeeJin jolted from the sound. HyunJin was seen leaning against the door frame, panting, out of breath. She had been running around checking every place they went yesterday, looking for HeeJin’s photo. She finally was able to catch her breath enough to stand up straight and speak. 

The bodyguard started walking toward the girl, she smugly raised her arm, and her tattered photo was seen. “I found it!”

HeeJin rushed to her friend and held her in a tight embrace. HyunJin was shocked by the sudden hug from her crush. She felt the heat rushing to her cheeks, and she couldn’t help but smile widely.

“I’m so sorry, HyunJin,” HeeJin said softly.

HyunJin didn’t know if she could handle so many surprises from the small girl; her soft voice gave her butterflies. Quickly she responded. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, it was my fault, to begin with. I breached your privacy, and it took me so long to apologize finally.” 

HeeJin held her even tighter and shook her head in between her friend’s neck and shoulder. “I mistreated you. I regret it so much.”

The taller girl chuckles. “Then we are both at fault.” HyunJin separates from her and gazes into her eyes and displayed the warmest smile she could. 

HeeJin smiles back and looks at the photo in her hand. She carefully takes it and holds it against her chest and steps in snuggles in her head onto HyunJin’s shoulders. HyunJin wasn’t expecting to be snuggled by the girl again, but she loved every second of it and decided to tease her a bit. “You're so clingy!”

HeeJin could only giggle. “Shut up!” She looks up at HyunJin and gazes at her face, sweat brimming on her forehead. Her face glowed in the dimly lit room, and her slightly damp face only produced a beautiful sheen that accentuated her facial features and perfectly smooth skin. HeeJin reaches up and lightly wipes the sweat from her friend’s forehead. “You’re smelly,” she teases.

HyunJin let out a fake gasp as one hand partially covered her mouth to show her sarcasm. “After all, I have been through, this is the thanks I get?” they both giggle from their soft banter. 

“But really, thank you so much, HyunJin. I can’t say thank you enough for finding my photo. T-This photo means so much to me. I want to open up to you, but my heart isn’t ready for that yet.” HeeJin’s voice was sincere, and it tugged on HyunJin’s heartstrings a bit. 

HyunJin responded with a reassuring nod. “Of course Heekki, take all the time you need. And if you ever lose the photo again, I will go out and find it again.” HeeJin felt her cheeks blush and buried her face in HyunJin’s shoulders. It was the first time HyunJin called her by her nickname. 

“That’s not fair. I don’t have a nickname for you.” HeeJin left HyunJin’s shoulder to face her as she pouted.

The taller girl let out a laugh at her adorable friend; she was weak to HeeJin’s pouting face. “Then what shall you call me?”

“Hmmm. Ah, how about BreadJin.” HeeJin grinned ear to ear. 

HyunJin laughs at the nickname and couldn’t argue with it, especially when she was being this adorable. “I accept it!” As they both laugh.

They both settle down and realize how tired they are, especially HyunJin. They both agree to go to bed finally, but HeeJin doesn’t let her leave until she placed a soft kiss on HyunJin’s cheek. 

“Goodnight BreadJin.” HeeJin shyly says and slips behind her bedroom door. 

HyunJin’s heart was beating 1000 times per minute, and her mind was basically malfunctioning at this point. She couldn’t believe this was real, as her face grew a bright red. How could she possibly fall asleep now?

~ ~ ~


	5. Rain & Shine

The night was relatively young, and HyunJin was able to retire to her apartment early. It was a rare occasion, HeeJin wanted to turn in earlier than usual to try to catch up on some sleep. HyunJin was bummed to spend less time with the girl, but she was also relieved that HeeJin finally decided to not work overtime for once. 

A couple of days have passed since HeeJin kissed HyunJin on the cheek, but the thought still makes her cheeks heat up and turn red, she constantly replayed the memory in her head. Giggling to herself, she snuggles into her pillow, covering the wide grin that’s plastered on her face. Jungeun was flipping through Netflix trying to find something to watch and couldn’t help but notice the giddy girl acting like a fool by herself. 

She raises her eyebrows at her roommate and gives her that ‘what is going on look.’ “Ok, HyunJin, spill it. What are you fangirling by yourself over there for?”

She lets out a happy sigh, “It’s about my crush…well the girl I like” her face turned redder as she slightly regrets telling her friend. She felt embarrassed to talk about her feelings finally, but she wanted maybe some advice or encouragement from her best friend. 

Jungeun tosses the remote on the couch, finally giving up trying to find something to watch and focuses on their conversation, finding it more interesting. “You still haven’t told any of us the girl’s name yet.” Jungeun gives out a pouty face. “At least tell me, we are best friends after all.”

HyunJin laughs at her roommate’s attempt to act cute. “Hm...well, I don’t know if I should say,” She pondered to herself if she did want to share with her friend about the girl that is always on her mind.

“Please, I’m so bored right now, and this is the only thing remotely interesting to talk about...I’ll even buy your favorite bread!” Jungeun pleaded.

HyunJin instinctively perked up at the mention of bread; her mouth started to water from just the thought of eating the chocolate covered bread. Her favorite bakery was an hour away by car, so she hasn’t been able to visit in a while, especially since she started bodyguarding every day. 

Jungeun could see that HyunJin was about to break, she only needed just a little push more, and she will finally reveal who the mystery girl is. “I will even buy five loaves, no, ten!”

HyunJin knew what she was trying to do, but couldn’t resist when it came to bread. “Fine.” She finally gives in and lets out a sigh, but reminds herself of the chocolate bread that she will savor later. 

Her roommate sat at the edge of her seat, turning all her attention towards HyunJin. She was dying to hear who this girl is. What was she like? How did they meet? What made the flippant HyunJin so smitten over her? Her curiosity was piqued, and she couldn’t wait to tell their other friends later only to tease the embarrassed girl more.

HyunJin was still a little hesitant, but she tried to think positively. It would be nice to be able to talk about this with a friend, she thought, and maybe they can even give her advice. HeeJin is the first girl that she has ever liked, and she didn’t know what to expect of her new feelings or if it’s any different from liking guys. “The girl that I like...is the girl I am protecting.”

Jungeun slowly nods patiently, waiting for her roommate to reveal the name as she edged even closer to the edge of the seat leaning towards HyunJIn.

“The girl I am protecting, and the girl that I like is...Jeon HeeJin.” HyunJin’s cheeks grew hot, and her ears glowed a vibrant red. She has never said she liked HeeJin out loud and saying it was like her finally acknowledging her feelings toward the girl; the thought made her more embarrassed.

Jungeun thought to herself, how the name sounded familiar. She wracked her brain, trying to recall where she has heard the name before. Was she famous? Maybe a rising actress or singer? HyunJin did pass her VIP bodyguard training, so it had to have been someone pretty important. Then it hit her, the news happened to be on in the background that day, and she overheard Blockberry’s current CEO making an announcement of his replacement taking over in a few years.

She let out a soft gasp while she covered her mouth with her hand. “Wait, are you talking about Blockberry’s HeeJin? The CEO’s daughter? That Jeon HeeJin!?”

HyunJin silently nodded, still blushing over her confession to her friend.

The response caused Jungeun to inch more from her seat and quickly found herself on the floor. She was stunned by the shocking news. “Wow. Ummm. That’s quite the first girl crush you have.” She reseated herself on the sofa right after she rubbed her sore bottom. “I know you’re around her a lot, literally every day so that you may have a clue. Do you know if she is into girls?”

Her blushing roommate shifted her eyes a bit as she tried to feign ignorance.

“You know something, don’t you!” She jumped off her seat and sat next to HyunJin and grabbed her arm, making sure she couldn’t escape from her question. “Well? Does she like girls? Maybe she even likes you?” As she said with a smirk.

HyunJin couldn’t hide anything from her roommate, and she gave in immediately and decided to tell her a few things about HeeJin. “So the first night I met her, we were telling each other stories, getting to know each other. Her first and only kiss was actually with a girl, Kim Jiwoo, her best friend-” 

Before HyunJin could continue, Jungeun blurted out. “Wait, the singer that debuted recently?” She was wide-eyed as if she were questioning everything that she said. “Did they date? They would look perfect together!...” Her hands instantly covered her mouth, realizing she didn’t want her friend to feel like it was hopeless to go after HeeJin. “Oh. Um. I’m sure you two would be a great pair too.” She said apathetically. 

HyunJin glared at her, but she couldn’t deny her words. “Actually, when I first met them, I thought they were together and also thought they were a perfect couple, but they never dated.” Jungeun sighed in relief. HyunJin continued, “In fact, HeeJin introduced her to her current girlfriend, who is another close friend of HeeJin.”

“Well, since she has kissed a girl, that means she’s probably gay, right?” Jungeun tried to spur some positivity in her friend. 

Her roommate knew what Jungeun was trying to do, and she appreciated her positivity. “Well, she said she was confused about it…”

“That doesn’t mean that she isn’t into girls! Maybe you’re the one she has been waiting for. Maybe you can make her confirm her feelings.” Jungeun was almost ecstatic and gave HyunJin a reassuring hug. 

HyunJin felt like she was being teased by her positive friend and playfully punched her shoulder, but at the same time, it gave her hope that maybe she was right. HyunJin felt relieved that she was able to talk about her feelings for the girl as she buried herself into Jungeun’s warmth. She smiled to herself, “Well. She did kiss me on the cheek the other night.”

“Yah! That’s why you were so giddy earlier!” Jungeun prodded at her friend’s ticklish sides, making her squirm away from the attacker. Even though HyunJin knew she could easily stop Jungeun, she let her have fun, and also though HyunJin didn’t want to admit it, she liked the constant teasing from her friend. 

After a few minutes of attacking her helpless roommate, Jungeun finally decided to let up from her attacks. She leans back on the couch and looks into HyunJin’s eyes, trying to give some heartfelt advice. “But honestly, I think you should try to go for it. I have never seen you so smitten over someone. I know it may be hard in your position as a bodyguard, but at least you are always by her side. And who knows, once she becomes CEO, she will be in charge, and maybe she will allow dating her bodyguard.”

HyunJin was caught off guard from the sudden change in the atmosphere of their conversation. She repositioned herself on the couch to try to return her roommate’s gaze and blushed at the thought of dating HeeJin as a grin crept on her face.

“See! You know it too, but you don’t want to admit it!” Jungeun dropped her serious tone after seeing the latter’s reaction and went straight back to teasing. She couldn’t help but tease her; she had never seen HyunJin so taken for another person before, so she had to tease the blushing girl while she could.

“Shut up! I thought we were having a serious conversation now!” HyunJin crossed her arms and pouted with her signature kitten eyes. “I’m just going to go to bed because you just keep teasing me.” She quickly got up from the couch and treaded to her room.

Jungeun didn’t want her fun to stop, she tried to grab onto HyunJin’s shirt, but she wasn’t quick enough and ended up stumbling onto the ground. “Yah! We are not done yet!” She cried, desperately trying to keep her entertainment from escaping.

HyunJin spun on her heel and stuck out her tongue before retreating to her room and shutting the door.

~ ~ ~

HeeJin released a sigh of relief when her last class was finally over. She gathered her books and tossed everything in her bag. “Finally, I didn’t think that the lecture was ever going to end.” 

HyunJin quietly nodded as she escorted HeeJin out of the room. They were both used to the stares students gave the two. Ever since Jaden’s press release, students became warier of HeeJin, and it didn’t help that a bodyguard was always with her. HyunJin remembered what Jaden told her how outcasted HeeJin would become with a bodyguard by her side, and he was right. Almost no one approached HeeJin unless they needed something from her, which was rare.

HeeJin didn’t care about getting close with her classmates; she always isolated herself from the beginning. Most of them were after ulterior motives anyways, so unless people were truly putting an effort to break her shell, she decided it wasn’t worth her time even though she felt lonely at times. But now she hasn’t felt lonely ever since HyunJin was by her side. She felt warm inside, knowing HyunJin was always right there for her.

She looked up at her bodyguard as they walked down the long corridor to exit the building. HyunJin was focused and alert when they were in public; it felt peculiar to her when HyunJin acted as a proper bodyguard. Her gaze was steely and unbreakable; her face was almost unreadable as if it were covered with a shroud of mystery. The only time HeeJin was able to crack that mask was when she playfully teased her bodyguard, which she did all the time hoping HyunJin didn’t feel tense all the time. She loved teasing HyunJin, seeing her graceful smile made her heart warm, her giggles were so contagious, she would even giggle with her. Somehow, HyunJin would make each day warm and bright, despite getting this weird feeling in her chest. Almost as if butterflies escaped inside of her. She wouldn’t call the feeling unpleasant, just odd and unknown to her and strangely she liked it.

HeeJin didn’t realize they were already outside until a drop of water hit her nose, breaking her gaze from HyunJin. She looked up at the sky covered in low hanging gray clouds. The drops of water became more frequent, and HeeJin quickly sifted through her bag to get her umbrella. As soon as she opened up her umbrella, the rain came pouring down. HyunJin gently took the umbrella from HeeJin’s hand so that she could hold it up for her.

“We need to meet up with Chuu and Sooyoungie. We will have Italian for dinner tonight; it’s only a few blocks away.” The shorter girl says. “Have you had Italian before?

This was the first time HyunJIn was going to meet Jiwoo’s girlfriend, SooYoung, which is also one of HeeJin’s close friends. She can’t help feeling anxious, especially when HeeJin warns her that she can be a bit much. 

HyunJin sheepishly shakes her head. “No, I have never been. Do they have good food?”

HeeJin let out a chuckle. “Well, you’re about to LOVE it. Yes, the food is great, but you also get free breadsticks.” She playfully winked at her bodyguard. “So, you better live up to your nickname BreadJin.” The smaller girl giggled at, the taller girl's reaction, she instantly felt her friend shaking in excitement, her mouth-watering.

HyunJIn crossed her chest with an arm and head bowed, and with the burliest voice, she could muster she exclaimed. “Yes, your highness, I shall live up to the title that you have bestowed upon me!” 

Despite the depressing weather, HeeJin’s smile and laughter made the world seem like a brighter place. HyunJin has never felt so comfortable with anyone; no one has ever made her feel this warm and fuzzy inside. All of her past relationships don’t hold a candle to how she feels when she is with HeeJin. 

After walking a couple of blocks, HyunJin’s shoulder was soaked. HeeJin’s small umbrella couldn’t cover two people very well, but that didn’t matter as long as HeeJin was protected from the unwanted weather, then everything was fine.

The shorter girl looked up to her bodyguard, and she finally realized her shoulder was wet. While HyunJin was distracted, theorizing how the Italian breadsticks would taste, HeeJin snaked her arms into HyunJin’s and gave it a gentle tug to close the distance between them to make sure she was entirely under the umbrella. As soon as HyunJin felt a soft pull against her arm, there was an immediate presence of soft warmth, and her arm was pressed against HeeJin's chest. She could have sworn time slowed down. She could faintly feel HeeJin's chest rising and falling as she breathed, matching her own. The rain was hitting hard against the umbrella, and she couldn’t be anymore thankful for it because if it wasn’t for that, she swears HeeJin would be able to hear her heart pounding.

They finally reached the Italian restaurant. It was small yet elegant and modern. The windows went from the floor to the ceilings but were darkly tinted to maintain a dark atmosphere. The hostess smiled at the two girls with arms linked and noticed how red the taller girl’s face was. “Ah, you must be Miss Jeon, your party has already been seated. I shall escort you and your girlfriend to the table,” smiling warmly at the two.

HyunJin tried to turn her face away from HeeJin; she knew her face was glowing red. She stole a glance at HeeJin to see her reaction, but she looked unfazed by the comment while she smiled brightly at the woman.

HeeJin was used to these kinds of comments whenever she went out with Jiwoo, but hearing that same comment with HyunJin felt different. For some reason, that inexplicable feeling came back, she felt her chest tighten, her smile would subconsciously grow, and for some reason, she felt more bashful. She wanted to know if HyunJin had any reaction, she didn’t know why, but she just wanted to know. 

As they entered the main dining area, HyunJin immediately recognized the beaming Jiwoo, and right next to her was a new face, which must have been her girlfriend and HeeJin’s close friend. HyunJin couldn’t believe how beautiful she was; she looked like a supermodel. Her long legs were crossed elegantly as her jeans hugged them tightly, and her striped sweater fit around her curves with a snug fit. It was easy to see she had a slim and slender figure, but she wasn’t just skinny; she had a healthy tone to her body. Her black hair elegantly draped down her shoulders in perfect waves. Her lips were plump, gracefully adorned with red lipstick. Her eyes were dark and mysterious, which made her distinct smile almost seem mischievous. If HeeJin was gay, there’s no way she wouldn’t be attracted to Sooyoung. Were all of HeeJin’s friends drop-dead gorgeous? Was it a requirement to be her friend? HyunJin chuckled at herself, imagining HeeJin as the leader of some exclusive pretty girl club. 

Jiwoo waves at the two latecomers as she spots them coming in through the entrance. She nudged her girlfriend’s elbow, “Heekie’s here!”

SooYoung smiled eagerly at the sight of HeeJin. She was excited to see her friend since they haven’t been able to see each other from their busy schedules. She then noticed an unfamiliar face by HeeJin’s side and had to ask once the two reached their table. “Oh, I didn’t know this was a double date. When were you going to tell me you got a girlfriend Heekki? I didn’t know you were gay!” With a playful smirk on her lips. “If I had known that, I would have gone after you instead of Chuu.”

“Yah!” Jiwoo smacks her girlfriend’s arm, knowing it was her way of teasing them both. She continued to glare at SooYoung with her lips pouted.

“Aww, don’t be like that Chuu.” She devilishly smiled and gently gave a few kisses to Jiwoo, turning her into jelly and making her forget why she was upset. 

“Ahem. If you love birds don’t stop; we are going to leave.” HeeJin grinned at the couple.

HyunJin was a bit awestruck, paying no attention to the three friends bantering. It was as if she was trapped in her bubble when the waitress and Sooyoung mentioned HeeJin and her as a couple. Is that how others saw them in public? Did they look good together? Did they look as good as HeeJin and Chuu...no, better than them?

HyunJin was still in a daze until a hand reached out in front of her. The rest of the girls were done greeting and hugging each other, and the bodyguard suddenly noticed who the hand belonged to, it was SooYoung’s.

HeeJin gave a soft nudge and teased her dazed friend. “What’s wrong BreadJin, are you captivated by SooYoungie’s beauty?” If anyone had eyes, they could see SooYoung’s incredible visuals; almost everyone was captivated by her.

HyunJin shook SooYoung’s hand, “Sorry about that. I’m Kim HyunJin. It’s a pleasure to meet one of HeeJin’s close friends. I am HeeJin’s bodyguard.” She stole a glance at HeeJin.

The tall girl hummed, noticing HyunJin’s eyes swiftly shifting to Heejin for a split second. “It’s great to meet you as well. I’m Ha SooYoung.”

As soon they turned to the table to sit down, HyunJin blurted out. “And I think Heekki is the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.” HyunJin immediately went wide-eyed and froze. She couldn’t believe what she just said. The words just slipped out of her mouth. She had no idea what came over her, but when HeeJin teased she was gazing at Sooyoung, HyunJin wanted to make it clear that was not the case.

SooYoung’s eyebrows raised at the blushing HeeJin then to the frozen girl beside her. “Are you sure you are her bodyguard? You seem more like a bashful couple to me.” She leaves a smirk on her lips.

HyunJin gawked and couldn’t respond, but HeeJin did for her after clearing her throat. “Yes, she is my bodyguard.”

SooYoung only gave her that ‘we need to talk’ look. 

Dinner went by pretty quickly, glasses of wine were downed, and delicious pasta was consumed. HyunJin lived up to her nickname of BreadJin. She ended up eating so many free breadsticks, the manager came to their table told her they would need to start charging if she ordered more. It was a hilarious sight to see, none of them could believe how much bread was being consumed, they lost count after the 9th or 10th basket of bread. It was more of a spectacle when they all gawked at her, and HyunJin only innocently replied, “What?” as if eating that amount of bread was normal, and she still managed to consume her full course meal as well. 

HyunJin rubbed her food belly with a satisfied grin on her face. “You were right, Heekki. I love Italian food.”

“No, it’s more like you just love bread, which is why I picked this place!” HeeJin teased HyunJin’s belly by prodding it. “And I’m sure you can eat more bread if they hadn’t stopped you.”

The bodyguard laughed from the girl’s teasing, poking her ticklish spots. Without thinking, she grabbed HeeJin’s hands and interlocked them together to stop her playful hands. HyunJin’s hands engulfed the smaller girl’s soft hands, HeeJin’s hands were much smaller, they were adorable, they felt so...perfect in her own hands. HyunJin didn’t even realize what she was doing until Sooyoung spoke up. “You guys would make an adorable couple.”

The two friends were both bashful from Sooyoung’s comment. “Oh, stop teasing us, SooYoungie!” HeeJin narrowed her eyes at her friend.

“I’m just saying.” As the taller girl put her hands up, meaning no harm. “It’s not like you didn’t do the same when Chuu and I were getting to know each other.”

Jiwoo blushed from the memories and clung onto her girlfriend’s arm. “And we are the cutest couple!” She squealed, making SooYoung’s face wince and covering her ear as if it was bleeding from the high pitch voice. “Not when your megaphone voice makes my ear bleed!” SooYoung loved teasing Jiwoo, especially when she got loud, she either got more clingy or displayed her adorable pout and puffy cheeks.

After their meal, the four girls decided to walk off their fullness at a nearby park. SooYoung managed to talk in private with HeeJin, walking ahead of the other two girls.

“So, what do you think of HyunJin?” SooYoung turned her head to face her friend.

HeeJin kept her eyes on the ground, kicking a few pebbles along the path while they walked. “Well, I think I am lucky to have her as my bodyguard. She has become a precious friend-”

“And what else?” The taller girl interrupted.

“What do you mean, what else?” Still keeping her eyes down.

SooYoung persisted. “Come on, Heekki. Your feelings for her.” 

HeeJin shook her head. “SooYoungie, she’s a close friend of mine. I don’t have any feelings.”

SooYoung sighed in frustration. “You’re in denial. I know you have feelings for her. I have been friends with you for years, and I have never seen you look at a person like how you look at HyunJin. The way your eyes follow her, the way you smile when you two talk, the way your hands linger for contact.” She grabs her friend’s hand, hoping that she can feel the sincerity in her words. “And this is my first time seeing you two together, and I can clearly see all these changes in you.”

“I think the wine is getting to your head SooYoungie.” HeeJin tried to brush off all her friend’s words by teasing.

“Heekki, I am serious. I know you are usually standoffish with people. Hell, it even took us a couple of years to become this close. But we both know things are different between you and HyunJIn. Don’t you feel anything when you are with her?”

There were a few minutes of silence between the two as they slowly walked, HeeJin felt new urges and feelings when she was with HyunJin. Her body becomes hot from the slightest touch, her cheeks hurt from smiling too hard when they are together, not to mention the inexplicable fluttering feeling she gets in her chest. Should she confide in SooYoung?

HeeJin parted her lips and was about to speak until the two got hugged from behind by the cheerful redhead, SooYoung rolled her eyes at her girlfriend, their private time was cut short.

“You two are being very secretive! What are you two talking about?” Jiwoo was so innocent and pure, and the taller girl couldn’t be mad at her. “I will tell you later.”

HyunJin was by HeeJin’s side, as she usually is, HyunJin was also curious about what kind of conversation the two had, but decided not to press into it. HeeJin warmly smiled at her, smiled that she was by her side, she wouldn’t want it any other way.

SooYoung’s words still lingered in her head.

~ ~ ~


	6. Love & Evil

It was a beautiful late afternoon. The seasons were changing, and the weather was perfect for jackets and overcoats. The calm wind swept up the color-changing leaves from the neglected balcony that HeeJin rarely used. Despite the loft being located on the top floor of Blockberry, HeeJin’s room overlooked a rooftop that was more like a small park. HyunJin always wondered why HeeJin never opened up the balcony doors, the view was gorgeous and anyone would be lucky to have this right outside of their room.

“Heekki, I’m going to open up the balcony doors, the weather is amazing outside!” HyunJin exclaimed.

The other girl was hunched over her desk, absorbed in her studies for her upcoming exams, she only hummed in response.

HyunJin grasped both door handles and swung the doors open and basked in the warm sunlight as she took a deep breath of the fresh autumn air. The lawn was crisply cut and remained saturated with a deep emerald, trees were slowly shedding their auburn and gold autumn leaves, and only a few birds were softly chirping outside as most of them have already flown south.

The bodyguard briefly left the room to make some hot cocoa; the cold air made it perfect for the warm and sweet beverage. Waiting for the milk to heat up, she watched the news from the TV that Jaden left on. There was breaking news that a convict escaped from a prison a few cities away-

The microwave chimed, and HyunJin rushed to get their beverages. She mixed in the chocolate powder and threw in some marshmallows and rushed to return to HeeJin.

HyunJin peeked into HeeJin’s room and discovered a pigeon perched on the balcony railing. The bodyguard could only think how delightful the little creature was, dropping by to visit HeeJin as if she was a fairytale princess. It reminded HyunJin of a scene from one of her favorite Disney movies, Snow White. Animals came from the forest to greet the princess and helped her with her chores. Her favorite part was when birds would whistle with the princess as if they were singing along with her voice. HyunJin smiled at her imagination of HeeJin humming with the birds, hoping that a similar scene would happen.

The girl turned, expecting to see HeeJin at her desk but didn’t find her there. Her smile fell as soon she saw the smaller girl curled up in the corner of her room. Her face displayed anything but joy; she only stared back at the winged creature, staring as if the small bird was the most horrible thing she has ever seen. HeeJin was petrified in place. She trembled in fear; her lips quivered from the sight of the harmless critter.

HyunJin set the mugs of cocoa down on top of the desk and cautiously called out to her friend. “Heekki…”

There was no response, no acknowledgment from the scared girl; all of her attention solely focused on the cursed winged beast.

“Heekki, are you okay?” HyunJin called out a bit louder, but there was still no response. She inched closer to the curled up girl, observing her carefully.

As soon as the bird opened its wings, HeeJin flinched, her eyes clenched shut, her arms covered her head that was burrowed into her knees as she let out a scream. 

It only took a split second for HyunJin to lunge over to HeeJin, embracing her as if she was trying to shield her from whatever evil was directed at her. 

HeeJin felt the arms wrap around her, she pressed her face against HyunJin’s chest and grasped the front of her shirt, balling up fistfuls of the soft fabric. Her loud whimpers turned into sharp sobs. HyunJin could feel the girl shaking, the tears seeping through her shirt and onto her skin. 

“Heekki, I’m here. I’m here.” She placed her hand over HeeJin’s head to push it closer to her chest, stroking her head gently. “It’s okay. I won’t let anything hurt you. I’m here to protect you.” She whispered into the crying girl’s ear. 

HyunJin hated seeing HeeJin cry. The feeling made her insides twist; her heart painfully ached as each sob hit her. She never wanted to see the girl she loves in sorrow. She wished she knew HeeJin had a fear of birds, well it seemed more than fear, more than a phobia, it was more like av trauma that cursed her. She has never witnessed such terror in someone’s eyes before. The only explanation she could theorize was it had to do something about her past, the past that the girl she loved was scared to share, but HyunJin will wait until she is ready.

HeeJin continued to cry into HyunJin’s chest, the taller girl still stroking her hair, whispering reassuring words by her ear. The tear-stained girl turned her face so that her ear was against HyunJin’s chest. Her constant heartbeat soothed HeeJin, and each thump matched her own. The sound of her soft breathing echoed inside of her, trying to match the slow and steady breaths. HyunJin started humming a ballad, and HeeJin felt the gentle vibrations against her cheek.

Even though HeeJin was done crying, she still cuddled into HyunJin’s warm embrace. It was like they were in their own world, just the two of them. She let go of her bodyguard's shirt to reveal hard wrinkles in the fabric and wrapped her arms around HyunJin. The humming girl’s cheek rested on top of HeeJin’s head, slightly swaying the two of them. 

HeeJin whispered, her voice broke a little. “Thank you, BreadJin.”

HyunJin nodded in response, holding the girl tighter in her arms. “I’ll always be by your side.”

HeeJin smiled. “You better not leave.” 

“How can I when you are such a clingy cry baby,” HyunJin softly teased.

The small girl weakly hit HyunJin’s chest and giggled. “Don’t be a meanie.” She lifted her head from HyunJin’s chest, revealing streaks of leftover tears. The taller girl gently wiped them away, and HeeJin loved how gentle HyunJin’s touch was, which made her heart skip a beat. 

~ ~ ~

It grew late in the night. Even HyunJin didn’t realize it herself as she woke up from her short nap. She was slightly amazed at herself as she fell asleep standing up, leaning in the corner of the room. It was 2 AM, and even HeeJin fell asleep at her desk, her small body folded over peacefully sleeping over her arms. Her cluttered desk was covered with reports and books with complicated graphs and equations. She looked at the sleeping girl’s face, how just a moment ago was sorrowfully crying was now in blissful peace. The bodyguard slipped her arms under the sleeping girl, and cautiously carried her into her bed. Taking the bed’s thick comforters, she wrapped them around HeeJin, making sure she was cocooned in warmth. HyunJin sat by her, taking one last look at HeeJin’s sleeping face. Her hand moved on its own, brushing strands of hair from her face and tucking them behind her ear. 

“Goodnight Heekki.” She leaned over and softly placed a kiss on her forehead.

Once HyunJin got to her room, she immediately changed out of her uniform and into an oversized sweater and shorts. She was about to tuck herself into bed until a scream broke the silent night. HyunJin dashed out of her room and busted into HeeJin’s. She found the girl sobbing in her bed; her heavy panting was shallow and short, her body shook just like it did earlier today. HyunJin sat on the edge of her bed and enveloped the crying girl into her arms.

“I’m sorry BreadJin.” The smaller girl’s voice shook. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay Heekki, there’s nothing to apologize for. I’m right here.” HyunJin whispered softly.

HeeJin just nodded and leaned closer into HyunJin’s embrace. They remained like this until her breathing stabilized again. 

When HyunJin felt like the girl was ok, she stood up from her bed and placed her hand on the side of HeeJin’s face. “I’ll be right next door if you need anything, okay?”

As soon as she stepped away, HeeJin latched onto her shirt and tugged on it. HyunJin stopped to face the clinging girl again. HyunJin watched HeeJin’s eyes wander around the room. She looked a bit nervous, and she knew the girl wanted to ask or say something. 

“What’s on your mind Heekki?”

HeeJin pulled on her shirt a bit more, hesitating to speak. “Uhm...C-can you...Can we sleep together?” She asked shyly.

HyunJin could feel all the heat rush to her cheeks, she couldn’t possibly refuse the girl, but she wasn’t sure if her heart could take it. It was already beating so fast from her request, and spending the entire night with her will only cause it to race even more. She nodded and slowly slipped under the covers with the girl as HeeJin scooted over to make more room. 

“Turn around,” HeeJin whispered. 

HyunJin’s back now faced HeeJin, as much as she wanted to gaze at the other, she was thankful because her face must have been glowing red in the dim room and she tried to hide it from the other girl. She then felt HeeJin’s arms slip around her, and they pulled her closer to HeeJin, so their bodies were completely flush with one another. It was adorable that HeeJin wanted to be the big spoon. HyunJin was usually the one to hold her, but feeling HeeJin’s warm embrace around her made her giddy as the butterflies in her stomach went sporadic.

They listened to each other’s breathing in silence, HeeJin rests her cheek against HyunJin’s backside, and she could faintly hear HyunJin’s heart beating.

HeeJin softly spoke out, breaking the silence in the room. “I have nightmares.” She held HyunJin tighter. “I have them almost every night, and I usually wake up from them. It’s always the same awful dream, a past I can’t seem to escape or get over.”

HyunJin remained quiet and only nodded to let HeeJin know she was still awake and listening.

“You know that old photograph you saw. The one that means so much to me, the couple in that picture are my birth parents. Jaden took me in and adopted me after-” HeeJin was cut off by her own whimper, her eyes started to gloss over. 

HyunJin caressed the back of HeeJin’s hand to reassure her and to let her know that she didn’t need to continue if she didn’t want to. She could feel her shaking more as each second passed. It was evident that this trauma was hard on her, and she never really talked about it, but HeeJin wanted to open up to her. So she found the strength to keep going, reminding herself she isn’t alone, that HyunJin would be her support. 

HeeJin continued. “After they were murdered...” She took a deep breath, slowly inhaling and exhaling, struggling to keep her tears back. “They were killed...right in front of my eyes.”

Tears began to stream down her face, failing to keep them in. She began to sob softly, burying her face into HyunJin’s back and clutched tighter around her waist. HyunJin’s heart sank, each sob coming from the girl behind her shot pangs in her heart. As soon as she felt the crying girl’s grip loosen, she immediately turned over to face the girl and cradled her head into her shoulder and neck. Softly stroking the back of her head, she wanted to let HeeJin know that she will always be there for her. 

Trying to continue, HeeJin was choking up on her words. “The murderer was wearing a pigeon mask.” She tried to laugh it off, laugh at her irrational phobia of the harmless creatures, but her laugh quickly turned into whimpers, clutching and balling up HyunJin’s sweater in her fists.

HyunJin knew what she was trying to do. She reassured her that anyone would have the same trauma and fear if they were in the same position. Eventually, all the crying exhausted the girl, and she fell asleep in the protective embrace she has grown so accustomed to.

An hour has passed since HeeJin fell asleep, she quietly snored on HyunJin’s chest. HyunJin couldn’t sleep, more like she didn’t want to sleep. She tried to take everything in and remember every second of this night. She wanted to engrave every detail, when HeeJin finally opened up to her, the way HeeJin held her earlier, and how she currently lay softly onto her chest feeling her warm breath through her thin sweater. She placed her hand on the back of HeeJin’s head and shifted her weight, HeeJin twitched from the movement making HyunJin pause, but it didn’t look like she woke up, so she continued to lay her head onto a pillow. 

Now she hovered over HeeJin; she stared at HeeJin’s face. No words could justify her beauty. She was the most beautiful thing HyunJin has ever laid eyes on. The feelings she has bottled up inside couldn't be contained anymore, and she simply wanted to steal a kiss from HeeJin’s lips. HyunJin inched closer toward her; her breathing became more uneven and unsteady. It was dead silent in the room other than the two’s breathing. But the silence only allowed HyunJin to hear her heartbeat throbbing throughout her entire body. Slowly she leaned closer to the parted lips and closed her eyes...

A soft whisper echoed in the room. “What are you doing?”

HyunJin’s eyes burst open, startled by HeeJin’s sudden words. All she could think was how bad she screwed up and tried to rebound backward quickly. But her body refused and remained frozen, unable to move, their faces were only a few inches apart. She tried to speak anything to try and make an excuse, but her voice wouldn’t comply. Scared of what HeeJin was thinking, HyunJin couldn’t help but notice the gaze in her eyes, she worried that she would be mad, feared that she might have ruined the relationship that they have built up. She tried to read her facial expression in the darkroom, but her face was unreadable. 

HeeJin gazed at HyunJin as her eyes tried to break away from her stare. Butterflies filled HeeJin’s stomach, was she trying to kiss me? Would she respond to my feelings? She wanted, no, she needed to know. She grabbed HyunJin’s collar and pulled her in. Their lips tightly pressed together, and HeeJin’s heart felt like it was trying to break out from her chest. It was like a spark of electricity started from her lips and ran through her entire body. A massive rush of emotions shook her being. This new sensation completely overwhelmed her, and it was nothing like how she felt when she shared her first kiss with Jiwoo. Tugging on her collar harder, she wanted more of HyunJin. She felt HyunJin’s hands gently cup her face while HeeJin’s arms wrapped around the taller girl’s waist. Allowing her body to become flush against hers, their legs intertwined with one another.

HeeJin broke off their kiss only to catch their breaths and immediately reconnected her lips to HyunJin’s again. This time she could taste the hint of chocolate from their beverage earlier that day, causing her to smile against the other pair of lips. Her hands snaked under the other girl’s sweater, pressing the small of her back while HyunJin’s hands weaved through her hair. HeeJin loved feeling HyunJin’s touch, she also loved the smooth skin under her wandering hands, letting her fingers dig into her flesh, as they kissed more passionately and intensely than before.

They kissed countless times, and each time felt so perfect and right. They stayed up almost all night, not wanting the magical night to end. They didn’t say a word as they cuddled and allowed themselves to be lost in each other's eyes, loving this moment and taking in the presence of the other. 

At some point, exhaustion caught up with them. The two were finally beginning to fall asleep as HeeJin observed HyunJin’s eyelids faltering slowly until they closed shut. HeeJin went in for one last kiss and softly spoke against HyunJin’s lips.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

~ ~ ~


	7. Hit & Run

HyunJin opened up her eyes to see HeeJin’s sleeping face. She smiled from ear to ear, delighted to see the girl she loved as soon as she woke up. HeeJin’s arms were still loosely wrapped around her waist under her sweater, and she absolutely adored feeling the warmth against her skin. HyunJin found herself gazing upon the sleeping girl’s, embedding every detail in her head. The way HeeJin’s eyelashes curled up perfectly into a crescent, how the bridge of her nose was impossibly straight, the way her soft cheeks were smushed up against her pillow, and somehow her messy hair laid out perfectly across the mattress. It was awhile before HeeJin fluttered her eyes open, to discover HyunJin was still gazing upon her.

“BreadJin, don’t be creepy.” HeeJin groaned out with a smile.

HyunJin giggled softly, “Well, good morning to you too.”

The two couldn't stop themselves from beaming at each other. Everything felt surreal; they couldn’t believe that last night happened, and even this morning when they woke up in each other's arms. They both wished every morning could begin just like this.

“I think it’s time to get out of bed, Heekki.” HyunJin yawned out.

The sleepy girl whined. “Can’t we cuddle in bed all day.” She mischievously smiled and pulled HyunJin closer to her so that she couldn’t leave the comfort of her bed.

HyunJin would much rather spend an entire day in the arms of the girl she loved, but they both knew that HeeJin needed to attend a couple of important meetings that day. 

“Don’t make me tickle you, Heekki!” The taller girl warned, her hands were up, ready to pounce.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

HyunJin took it as a challenge and easily overpowered the latter. She pinned her arms above her head with one hand and straddled over HeeJin, making sure she couldn’t wiggle out and began attacking her ticklish sides with her free hand. 

“Ok, Ok, Stoppp! I’ll get out of bed!” HeeJin uncontrollably laughed as she begged.

Laughter and giggling filled the room. HeeJin was entirely out of breath and was relieved she could finally breathe normally again. HyunJin leaned over HeeJin and grinned at her. Her face was only a few inches from the other’s and stole a quick kiss from the unexpecting girl. 

“Noo, that was too short.” HeeJin pouted. “One more,” she whined.

HyunJin grinned even wider. “Okay, Heekki.” She leaned once more and tenderly kissed her.

~ ~ ~

It was another morning, another day HyunJin gets to spend with HeeJin. But today was the start of something new, they both expressed their feelings, and she could only hope it will blossom into something more beautiful. She couldn’t imagine protecting someone other than HeeJin now; she could only imagine being by her side. 

HyunJin dressed in the uniform she always wore. An earpiece that conformed in her ear with a wire that ran down the side of her neck into the radio by her hip, a snug white button-down tucked into her pressed slim black slacks, black low cut leather boots, and her shoulder holster where she keeps her gun hidden under her kevlar bulletproof blazer. She admits to herself that being with HeeJin makes her almost forget that she is her bodyguard. But the 9mm handgun she keeps by her breast was a constant reminder of her duty, that her life is on the line each day, ready to give her own for HeeJin. 

_For the girl she loves._

~ ~ ~

It was late afternoon, and Jungeun was enjoying the autumn weather with her friends despite being the 5th wheel. She rolled her eyes when JinSoul was nerding out about her new Gundam models. Then something caught her attention. Her roommate was just across the street from the cafe. She waved frantically, trying to get her attention. JinSoul, Yerim, and Chaewon joined in as well as soon as they traced to where Jungeun’s attention had swayed. Hyejoo lazily stuck her arm up, refusing to waste any more of her precious energy while she enjoyed her blueberry muffin.

It didn’t take long for the bodyguard to see her friends making fools of themselves outside in public.

HeeJin also took notice of the four girls frantically waving at them, and the one girl with her arm randomly up as if she had her hand raised in a classroom; she looked towards the taller girl. “Do you know them?”

HyunJin huffed, “Yes, unfortunately, they are my best friends. Would you mind if we stopped by to greet them?”

HeeJin nodded shyly. She hasn’t heard much of HyunJin’s friends. She doesn’t know anything about them, which made her nervous and anxious. Will they like her? Are they nice? Surely they were if they are HyunJin’s friends. HyunJin had already integrated well with her friends, Jiwoo and SooYoung, so she would like to do the same. But she didn’t know how to act; she always puts up a cold front with strangers, and that wouldn't leave a good impression.

Jungeun was pleased to see the two girls walking over to their cafe table. She knew the shy girl behind HyunJin must have been HeeJin, and she was eager to meet her. To everyone’s surprise, HeeJin looked more beautiful in person than she did in photos and on TV. Her ebony locks gracefully flowed in the autumn breeze. Her skin was glowing in the golden sunlight. She wore a heather gray overcoat that elegantly draped over her shoulders; her arms weren’t in the sleeves as they intertwined with HyunJin’s. Jungeun remembered when she apathetically teased HyunJin that they would look good as a couple. But she couldn't deny that after seeing them in person, they looked perfect for each other.

As soon as they arrived at their table, Jungeun jumped from her seat and gave her roommate a big hug. “HyunJinnie!” The other girls followed suit and joined the hug-fest. HeeJin awkwardly stood to the side, watching everyone embrace each other but smiled at the warmth of HyunJin’s friends.

After the girls separated from the bodyguard, the rest turned to HeeJin with bright smiles. HeeJin extended her arm out, expecting a handshake, but Yerim took her hand and pulled her into them, and they all hugged her. HeeJin has never felt so touched by complete strangers. 

“Uhm, I’m Jeon HeeJin.” She said coyly, fumbling with her fingers.

“I’m Choi Yerim! HyunJin is like a big sister to me! Oh, and I am also this girl’s girlfriend!” As she tugged the tall blonde next to her. 

The purple-haired girl was overflowing with positivity. HeeJin didn’t think there was anyone brighter than her friend Jiwoo, but she believes she found her match. Her personality was more glorious than the sun itself. Her cheeks collected into the corners of her face as she vibrantly smiled while her eyes beamed along with it. 

HeeJin directed her eyes towards the tall blonde, whom Yerim was clinging on. The blonde was stunning; she almost looked unreal, similar to a barbie doll. Her blonde hair fit her perfectly as if she was born with it. Her jawline was sharp and chiseled, which accentuated her long neck. She was about the same height as HyunJin, maybe a little taller. 

“I’m Jung JinSoul, HyunJin and I go way back! It’s nice to meet you. HyunJinnie talks about you ALL the time!” HeeJin blushed from the statement.

“Yah!” HyunJin could only yelp at her friend’s words.

Next was the short blonde, she also seemed very doll-like, but more in a cute and princessy way. Her wavy golden hair fell to her shoulders, shimmering in the sunlight, making her look like she popped out of a fairytale movie. 

“It’s a pleasure HeeJin, I’m Park Chaewon, and this depressing loof is my girlfriend, Son Hyejoo.” Hyejoo knocked the short blonde’s head from the comment. 

HeeJin was a bit intimidated by the girl dressed in all black. Her make up was dark, and her gaze was piercing, but that’s if she found you more interesting than the muffin she was eating. Her triangular-shaped lips made her look like she had a resting bitch face. She found the couple intriguing; their personalities and even fashion sense seemed to be polar opposites. Chaewon was bright, cheerful, and colorful, while Hyejoo was an old grump and didn’t seem to care about anything.

As if Chaewon was reading her mind. “Oh, please, don’t mind her grumpiness, she is a sweetheart on the inside,” Hyejoo whined in response as she slapped her girlfriend's shoulder.

Jungeun couldn’t wait, she slid in between them and beamed at HeeJin. “And I’m Kim Jungeun, HyunJin’s roommate and best friend!” She said with pride.

The brunette was another beauty. HeeJin had to admit she was jealous knowing she got to live with HyunJin, even though HyunJin spent a lot of nights at her place. The brunette carried a confident aura about her, especially when her hair was tied up in a high ponytail. Her skin was perfectly smooth, and her voluptuous red lips were the focal point of her facial features.

“Oh, HyunJinnie, I have a surprise for you!” The brunette knitted her eyebrows as she rummaged through her canvas bag and displayed a large loaf of bread doused in chocolate. She immediately opened it up, seeing how HyunJin’s eyes were already devouring the sweet fluffy snack. Jungeun tore a piece off and extended her arm towards HyunJin’s mouth.

“Say ahhhh.” She stuffed the piece of bread in HyunJin’s mouth. Her fingertips grazed her lips and smudging a bit of chocolate on the corners of the girl’s mouth. As soon as Jungeun finished feeding her roommate, she noticed how HeeJin furrowed her brows and puffed her cheeks while she tugged on HyunJin’s arm, bringing them closer.

Jungeun knew the shorter girl was jealous, and couldn’t contain her grin at the sight of the adorable couple. But HeeJin did the unexpected and cupped her hand on HyunJin’s face so she could turn it to face her.

“BreadJin, you have chocolate on your face.” HeeJin softly spoke. She gently wiped one corner of her mouth with her thumb. Then she bit her own lip, hesitating on what she was going to do next. To everyone’s surprise, she tiptoed up to HyunJin’s face and delicately licked the other chocolate-covered corner of her mouth. HyunJin’s face instantly burned red; her heart was on a rampage inside of her chest, staring at HeeJin in disbelief.

JinSoul’s jaw dropped, Yerim excitedly giggled and clapped from the cuteness overload, Chaewon grinned and cheerfully cooed at them, Hyejoo only raised her eyebrows and continued to gnaw on her muffin. Jungeun’s face grew red, feeling embarrassed for the couple as her mouth formed an ‘o’. HeeJin didn’t know what came over her; she hid behind HyunJin and buried her bright pink face into her back, hiding her embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she just did that in front of HyunJin’s friends whom she just met. It was all because she was being petty when Jungeun fed the girl she had feelings for.

“EEEEEKKK!” Yerim squealed, she couldn’t get enough of how cute HeeJin and HyunJin were, even when they were embarrassed. “Oh. My. God. That was SO CAYUTE! Not even Soulie would do that for me! HeeJin, you are literally the most adorable thing ever!”

HeeJin quietly muffled a small thanks; her face still burrowed into HyunJin’s back, hiding her bashfulness.

Hyejoo spoke up after finishing her muffin. “So, that was quite the PDA, are you guys like dating now?” Her voice tried to sound uninterested and monotoned.

“Also, cute pet name for HyunJin, it fits her so well!” JinSoul grinned.

Chaewon also joined in, “Yeah! Have you guys dated long? Oh, wait, that can’t be. But yeah, are you guys official? You guys should have a ship name!”

Jungeun nodded. “That’s true; we all have one for each other, don’t we. We have HyeWon,” She gestured to the short blonde and ‘gothic’ girl.

“ChoSoul,” Pointing at the tall blonde and purple-haired girl.

“And finally there’s my girlfriend and me. SeuLip...HaSeul wanted to make a dumb pun so that our ship name sounds like ‘sleep,’ “ Jungeun scoffed. 

HyunJin tried to redirect the attention from them to Jungeun. “How is HaSeul doing? Isn’t she coming back from abroad soon?”

“Yeah, she should be coming back in a couple of days. I miss her so much, and all of these couples around me certainly doesn’t help!” Glaring at all her friends.

“HyunJinnie! You can’t avoid this! We still haven’t given you guys a ship name!” JinSoul shouted out.

HyunJin rolled her eyes; she thought she could avoid the topic. She hasn’t talked to HeeJin about what they are...they know they have strong feelings for each other, but that’s about it. She didn’t know if HeeJin wanted them to take it slow and ease into their relationship.

“Hmmm, how about HyunHee?” Jungeun thought out loud, shortly after she shook her head, “No, not cute enough.”

“HeeBread?” Hyejoo chimed in. Everyone shook their heads in disgust.

HeeJin peeked her head out from HyunJin’s back, her face has settled down to a rosy pink, and in almost a whisper, she said. “2Jin.” She has been thinking about their ship name ever since she discovered her feelings towards the girl, now was the time to reveal it since they were on the topic and she couldn’t get any more embarrassed from her previous stunt.

Yerim gasped, her hands covered her mouth. “HeeJin! YESSS!” The circle of friends all covered their ears from the screaming girl.

HyunJin rotated to face HeeJin, HeeJin could see the question in her eyes. Are we official? HeeJin wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist and snuggled into the crook of her neck and nodded.

All of HyunJin’s friends cheered, even an ‘Assa’ from Chaewon. 

“Congratulations on your first-ever girlfriend, HyunJinnie! Welcome to the gay club!” Jungeun gave a lighthearted punch to HyunJin’s shoulder.

Chaewon stifled her laugh. “Yeah, it’s about time you finally joined our true circle of gay.”

“We always suspected HyunJin wasn’t straight, or at least Bi since she was so flippant with her past relationships with guys,” Hyejoo informing HeeJin.

JinSoul turned her attention to HeeJin. “Really, though, we are so happy that HyunJin has finally met someone she truly enjoys being with. It’s like we are all seeing a new side of her.” She fake sobs and brushes an imaginary tear from her eye. “She’s growing up so fast.”

HeeJin giggled. “Well, I’m the one that’s truly lucky.” She tightened her embrace around HyunJin’s waist.

HeeJin wanted to feed the rest of the chocolate bread to HyunJin; the taller girl tried to resist, knowing her new girlfriend would fluster her face, and her friends would only tease her more. But she knew she couldn’t restrain herself from HeeJin for too long. HeeJin even made up an excuse to sit on HyunJin’s lap while she fed her. She fed her pieces that were way too big, so when they ended up in HyunJin’s mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk with chocolate smeared all over her lips. HeeJin and her friends laughed at how ridiculous she looked, so HyunJin decided to get revenge by attacking HeeJin’s cheek with chocolate-covered kisses.

The group of friends spent a few more hours at the cafe, they were all being a bit too loud, but they didn’t care, they were enjoying each other’s company too much. HeeJin quickly warmed up to HyunJin’s friends; she even joined up with them, teasing HyunJin. They all loved her, and HeeJin loved them as well.

~ ~ ~

The evening grew colder as the sun slowly fell into the horizon as they were heading home. HyunJin could feel HeeJin shivering a bit under the wind chill despite wearing her favorite overcoat. The bodyguard slid off her coat and her blazer. To HeeJin’s surprise, HyunJin swiftly removed her coat so that she could wrap HeeJin under her kevlar blazer and placed HeeJin’s coat back on her. HeeJin’s cheeks and nose were rosy-colored from the cold air, but they grew a couple of shades darker as she let HyunJin wrap her in warmth. 

She could still feel HyunJin’s warmth in her blazer, causing butterflies to spur in her chest. For once, she was looking forward to winter. She imagined snuggly with HyunJin by her fireplace, holding each other outside to warm themselves from the cold and getting to wear HyunJin’s oversized sweaters that fit too loose on her, which didn’t matter because they would have HyunJin’s scent.

HeeJin warmly beamed up at HyunJin after she was finished and thanked her. HyunJin returned her smile with her own, as she tucked away stray strands of hair behind her ear.

Something in the distance caught HyunJin’s attention. Her eyes shifted from HeeJin to scan behind her. She didn’t want to worry HeeJin, but she was still distracted in her thoughts. HyunJin’s eyes continued to survey around the area and scoped in on a black van a few blocks away. It was crawling through the intersection, slowing down all the traffic behind it. One of the rear windows rolled down, and a suspicious gleam appeared. As if it were second nature, the bodyguard swiftly seized HeeJin and rotated them, so HyunJin was in front of her and then forcefully shoved themselves on the ground. 

To HyunJin, the world fell silent. The cars that honked through the bustling city came out as muffled noise. The surrounding people were muted. The only thing she heard was a loud crack that pierced through the air.

HyunJin felt a sharp, searing pain in her lower abdomen, a pain she has never experienced before. It happened in an instant; all the oxygen escaped her lungs, her body was desperately trying to gasp for more air. The pain was so intense she felt every muscle in her body constrict, feeling paralyzed. Her eyes instantly blurred and watered from the gunshot wound; she knew the bullet pierced through her backside and exited through her front. 

Shortly after the first gunshot, there was a second crack in the air, trying to catch them as the two were falling. The shot completely missed them and ricocheted off a metal lamp post and punctured a few propane tanks a truck was transporting, which was only a few car lengths away from them. HyunJin tightly embraced HeeJin using her body as a shield from the incoming- 

***BOOM***

The explosion’s soundwaves bounced off the walls of the surrounding buildings causing the sound to echo throughout the city. Flames completely engulfed the transport truck, ejecting hot shards of metal, wood, and glass from itself and the surrounding buildings. Everyone cried in terror and panic. Most were lucky to be far enough to receive minor injuries, but some unlucky souls were severely injured, and a few whose lives ended instantly. Black smoke rapidly cloaked the intersection, impairing everyone’s vision.

HyunJin blacked out for a few seconds after the explosion; miraculously, her body immediately recovered itself from its unconscious state. There were new pains and aches felt scattered throughout her body, making her breaths shallow and heavy. Her back was slashed and cut from broken shards of glass and debris, a piece a metal lodged into the back of her right thigh, blood streaming from her head started to sting her left eye while more of the scarlet liquid poured out from her abdomen and began to pool on the pavement. The pain was beginning to numb, she wasn’t sure if it was because her adrenaline was coursing throughout her body or from her continuous blood loss. All of her injuries didn’t matter. There was only one thing on her mind.

_HeeJin_

She lifted herself from the girl she loved, gasping from the sharp pains that convulsed around her wounds. Her eyes frantically scanned the unconscious girl confirming there were no injuries other than a tiny scratch on the top of her forehead. She let out a small sigh of relief and tried to call out to her girlfriend. Her voice was trembling and hoarse.

“HeeJin.”

“HeeJin...please wake up.”

~ ~ ~


	8. Love & Lost

The town was in utter chaos. Civilians scattered from the source of the explosion, some hid and cowered in corners, few tried to help the injured. Emergency vehicle sirens filled the air, emergency personnel tried their best to handle the situation, but they weren’t prepared for the anarchy. HeeJin still lay unconscious as her bodyguard tried to make sure she was not injured. HyunJin reached for her radio by her hip and flipped a switch, activating an emergency beacon. She reached up pressed on her earpiece and called out for backup, briefly stating the situation.

Right after the call, she felt some movement from under her. The bodyguard turned her attention back to HeeJin.

“HeeJin!...HeeJin!”

“Are you ok? HeeJin!”

HyunJin let out a sigh of relief as she was finally stirring awake. She tried her best to keep her hand from trembling as she brushed and wiped the dirt and grime from HeeJin’s cheeks. The unconscious girl finally came to, and there were immediate fear and confusion in her eyes.

Trying to keep her breath steady, it was unbelievably difficult for HyunJin not to wince and cry in pain from all her injuries. She didn’t want to worry HeeJin, but her efforts were useless once HeeJin looked her up and down. There was no way to hide any of her severe wounds, her warm blood pooled around her and HeeJin, her leg started to burn from the metal shrapnel in her leg, and her head throbs with immense pain. She felt her consciousness beginning to fade, but tried to stay alert until back up arrives.

HeeJin cried out to HyunJin; tears were streaming down her face looking at her severely injured girlfriend. She felt like it was her fault HyunJin was in this state. If they hadn’t left her bed today, everything could have been normal. Maybe if HeeJin weren’t wearing HyunJin’s bulletproof blazer, she would be in better condition. If she weren’t her bodyguard, she wouldn’t be in any danger, to begin with.

“Why aren’t you leaving?! You can’t die because of me!”

HyunJin tried to muster up a smile as she wiped the tears falling from the girl's eyes. “I’ll protect your life until my last breath.” She placed her finger under HeeJin’s chin so that she could look her in the eyes. “As long as you live, I won’t die.”

“I don’t want that! I don’t want you to be in danger again, HyunJin.” The crying girl clutched HyunJin’s shirt. “I can’t lose you.”

“The same goes for me, Heekki,” she gently cupped her face with one hand. “Now that I know danger is after you. There’s no possible way I am going to sit on the sidelines.”

Ms.Wong (head of security for Blockberry) and several bodyguards arrived at the scene and immediately spotted the two on the ground. They all rush to them, prepared with first aid kits and a stretcher. 

Now HyunJin started to sway back and forth, at this point she couldn't stay up, as she was about to collapse, HeeJin caught her and carefully placed her head on her lap. With HyunJin’s last bit of remaining energy, she mouthed the words.

_I love you._

HeeJin cradled her head as tears fell, she desperately cried out. “I love you too, HyunJin, so please don’t leave me, you’ll be alright.”

Ms. Wong knelt down and tried to peel HeeJin from HyunJin as the other guards readied the stretcher for the wounded bodyguard. HeeJin reluctantly let go of HyunJin’s hand after struggling with Ms. Wong.

Ms. Wong tried to speak to the distressed girl calmly. “HeeJin, she needs to go to the hospital ASAP. We will take you home-”

“No, Kahei! I’m going to the hospital too.” HeeJin snapped. Kahei sighed, knowing HeeJin was too stubborn and allowed her to come with them.

~ ~ ~

Tense air filled the waiting room. It’s been hours since HyunJin went into the operating room, and all HeeJin could do was hope and pray that her girlfriend would pull through. Jaden held his daughter's hand doing the best he could to comfort her as they waited.

Jaden knew that their relationship was more than just friendship, they didn’t exactly hide it, but he was okay with it. If anything, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw how happy HeeJin was. But to see her in her current, perhaps Jaden didn’t think this all the way through. Maybe it would have been better for HeeJin to have a bodyguard to whom she wouldn’t get close to because seeing her suffer now caused him much pain in his heart. 

The red light above the operating room doors shut off. HeeJin stood up, gripping her own hands in anticipation. The doctor swung the doors of the operating room open with a stoic face. HeeJin tried to read the expression on his face to see if she needed to brace herself for bad news or not, but she didn’t find any success. 

“There’s good news and bad news.” The doctor stated.

HeeJin clenched her hand tighter against her chest, revealing white knuckles, as her nails dug into her palm. She couldn’t stop her mind from running through hundreds of different scenarios of what the news could be. Jaden put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, bracing her for whatever news was to come.

“The good news is, the operation was a success.” There was a small sigh of relief in the room but became tense again to hear the latter. “But the patient has suffered from severe head trauma, which poised a lot of difficulty during the operation. Because of her injury, we had no choice but to put her in an induced coma.”

HeeJin’s knees buckled in. If it wasn’t for Jaden, she would have collapsed on the floor.

Jaden tried to ask the doctor for his daughter, reassuringly. “But that just means you put her in a coma temporarily correct?”

The doctor nodded his head. “Yes, this is so that her brain can have time to heal properly. She will be asleep for two weeks, which should be ample time to heal for her trauma. Of course, we will monitor her recovery daily.”

The father looked at his daughter, who looked slightly better about the situation.

“Can we see her?” HeeJin sounded a bit desperate, but anyone would be in this kind of situation.

“Of course, once we get the room ready and get her situated, we will come to get you. But since it is very late, it will have to be brief. You can come again tomorrow during visiting hours.” The doctor tried to show some sympathy before he briskly left onto his next patient.

While they waited, HeeJin’s finger hovered over Junguen’s contact info on her phone. Earlier that day, HeeJin was able to exchange numbers with all of her new friends, but she truly wished that her first call to them wouldn’t have been this.

After taking a few deep breaths, she finally pressed the call button. Each ring made her more anxious. The ringing ended, and there was a slight groan on the other side of the line. Jungeun must’ve been asleep already, considering it was pretty late at night. Words were stuck in HeeJin’s throat as she tried to break the bad news.

“HeeJin?” Jungen croaked out. Her voice was dry.

There was still no response on the other side. “HeeJin, is everything ok?”

“I’m so sorry, Jungeun.” The voice on the other side was shaky. Jungeun sat up from her bed, confused why the girl was apologizing to her so suddenly.

Jungen could hear HeeJin take a few deep breaths and finally spoke again, her voice still trembled and was hoarse, it was strange not to hear her smooth velvety voice. “I’m sure you have heard about the explosion on the news earlier today-” 

Her chest tightened, her pulse started to increase as soon as HeeJin mentioned the major incident that occurred earlier that evening. It was on every news channel, and social media was buzzing frantically from it as well unless you lived in a rock, everyone in the whole country knew about it.

As HeeJin continued to tell the roommate the bad news, her voice started to sound more like a whimper. “HyunJin...HyunJin’s in the hospital-”

Before HeeJin could finish, Jungeun knew something terrible happened to her best friend by the quiver in HeeJin’s voice. “We will be right there. The other girls are here at my apartment.”

It didn’t take long for HyunJin’s friends to get to the hospital. They arrived at the room where HyunJin was recovering, and they found HeeJin already by her bedside, holding her hand. They took a look at the sleeping HyunJin, she lay unconscious, her head was thickly wrapped with bandages, she had small cuts and bruises across her arms, and her skin was sickly pale. 

HeeJin looked up at the group of friends, her eyes glossed over. “I’m so sorry, everyone. This happened because of me.” She then went over what happened that evening. How HyunJin protected her by taking a bullet for her and shielding her from the explosion. Now she was critically injured and was induced into a coma.

The girls crowded around HeeJin, they knew it wasn’t her fault, and she shouldn’t blame herself for what happened. All they could do now was wait for HyunJin to recover and wake up.

~ ~ ~

_“HyunJin!”_

__

__

_“HyunJin!”_

__

__

_She reached out towards her silhouette. She was gradually getting smaller and further. No matter how hard or how fast she ran, she couldn’t get any closer to HyunJin._

_And just like that, she disappeared._

HeeJin gasped as she woke up. Her room was dark, not a single sound echoed in the room. It was the first time she didn’t dream about her parent’s death, but this dream was just as bad if not worse to her. 

She brushed off the bad dream, trying to replace the imagery with memories of her and HyunJin. The memories they shared in this room, all the hours they spent together talking, from when they first embraced, when they cuddled and slept together, and when they first kissed. A smile appeared on her face, though it was a bitter smile, remembering that HyunJin wouldn’t be by her side today or tomorrow, even weeks. She didn’t want to think about it. 

HeeJin suddenly heard some rustling and movement from the guest room, the room that HyunJin usually stayed in when she spent the night. The girl ran out of her bedroom, even though she knew it shouldn’t be possible, she had the tiniest of hopes that some miracle happened and HyunJin would be there. Or that maybe everything that happened was just a bad dream.

When she burst into the room, she startled the unfamiliar face that was in the room. HeeJin put on a questionable look on her face and stared at the girl with a short bob haircut, who wore the same uniform as HyunJin. The stranger was easily shorter than HyunJin, also shorter than herself. Her dark brown hair was elegantly cut above her shoulders, her eyes were sharp and piercing but still maintained a warm aura to them. She had a perfect smile that gleamed with her pearly whites; it looked effortless for her. 

“Oh my god, you scared the shit out of me,” the stranger spoke. After taking a few seconds to recover, she reached out to HeeJin, expecting a handshake after she introduced herself. 

“Good morning Jeon HeeJin. I am Agent Jo HaSeul. I know this is sudden, and I was hoping I could have introduced myself more formally, but starting today, I will be your new personal bodyguard.” HaSeul tried to smile at the confused girl warmly.

New bodyguard? 

_NO._

HeeJin didn’t want anyone else other than HyunJIn. She couldn't be replaced just like that. 

HeeJin snapped at the stranger. “I don’t need a new bodyguard. I have HyunJin.” Brushing the hand away, refusing to shake her hand.

HaSeul continued to smile. “Look, I know this isn’t ideal, and I know how close you and HyunJin are, but you need a bodyguard more than ever now, it’s apparent people are after you now. And trust me when I say this, but HyunJin’s current state saddens even I.”

“What do you know about HyunJin?” HeeJin glared.

The shorter girl was starting to get frustrated at HeeJin and her attitude. “I am her sunbae. We grew close during our bodyguard training period. I showed her the ropes and basics. I watched her grow as she excelled in everything she was taught. When I heard the news about my friend, I came back as soon as I could from my last assignment.”

They were both glaring at each other until Jaden and Kahei entering the room broke their staring contest.

“Oh, I see you guys have already met and introduced yourselves,” Kahei arched her brow at the two girls glaring at each other. 

Jaden recognized the tension in the air spoke up to explain things. “HeeJin, I know you’re upset, but HaSeul isn’t replacing HyunJin’s position. I personally asked for her to come in. She is one of the best agents who has had plenty of on-field experience protecting high profile VIPs. The attacker is still at large, so we need to be ready for anything, and I want you to be safe.”

Jaden hesitantly continued observing his daughter's blank expression. “With that being said. I hate that I have to do this, but we will need to restrict your freedom for some time. I have already communicated to your university about your situation. So you don’t need to go on campus or classes. This will help keep you and even innocent bystanders safe. And for now, we can put our company's work aside.” 

HeeJin turned her attention to her father. He knew exactly what she was thinking based on the concerned look on her face. “But there is one place I will allow you to travel freely. Of course, that will be the hospital to visit HyunJin.”

Kahei joined in the conversation. “Yes, about that. Just please let us know when you head out so we can secure a protected route for you ahead of time. We will even send out decoy vehicles for a while until things die down.”

“We will try to maintain this level of security for as long as possible, but we can’t keep it up forever. The attacker will know this, and they most likely won’t attack again until our security lightens up.” Kahei added. “Also, you will be required to wear one of these from now on.” 

She held out an article of clothing. It was a black jacket, similar to the bodyguard blazers that HyunJin and HaSeul wore. 

~ ~ ~

The hospital was a bit more lively than it was the night before. Compared to the dimly lit eery hallways at night, the atmosphere was completely different. The halls were filled with bustling doctors and nurses rushing into various rooms. Patients and families roamed corridors trying to find the correct rooms they needed to be in.

HeeJin and HaSeul approached HyunJin’s room and took a peek inside to make sure there wasn’t a nurse checking up on her. HeeJin spotted Jungeun sitting by her bedside. She had her hand placed on HyunJin’s arm. She looked so sad, her hair partially fell over her face, covering part of it. It was as if there was another meaning behind that sadness, not just from her friend’s condition. HeeJin was about to walk in until she saw HaSeul hesitate. 

It finally hit HeeJin, remembering where she has heard HaSeul’s name before. She didn’t connect the dots earlier because the only thing that has been on her mind was HyunJin. It was clear what Jungeun’s concern was, what that underlying sadness she tried to hide under her bangs. 

HeeJin pulled HaSeul to the side. “Is Jungeun okay about this?” She spoke with a soft voice, almost as if she was trying to keep it a secret from the walls around them.

HaSeul let out a heavy sigh, recalling all the arguments she’s had with Jungeun about her profession how she would worry sick about her girlfriend’s safety. They have even broken up a couple of times because of their situation because Jungeun didn’t know if she could handle losing HaSeul if something ever happened. 

HaSeul only curled the edges of her lips, as if it was supposed to be a smile. “To be honest, she hates my profession and wishes for me to do anything else. I know I will be getting another earful when she finds out I am your bodyguard, especially after what happened to HyunJin.”

HeeJin now shares the same pain as Jungeun; both of their girlfriends have dangerous professions and could die at any point. At least for HeeJin, HyunJin is by her side almost 24/7. But it’s different for Jungeun, HaSeul was away, out there shielding another person’s life with her own and Jungeun could only wait to hear if she was ok and wait for her to return.

After taking a few deep breaths, HeeJin enters the room nervously and sheepishly smiles at the brunette. Jungeun turns to face her and smiles, and then it quickly falters once she sees HaSeul in uniform next to HeeJin. She knows she should be happy to see her girlfriend. It’s been months since she was abroad guarding a VIP that was out of the country. 

Jungeun’s eyes gloss over, she furrows her brows at HaSeul. “When were you going to tell me you were back?”

HaSeul knew precisely where this heading, she knew the face her girlfriend puts on when she is about to argue. “Not now, Lippie. Can we talk about it later tonight when I come home to your place?”

“No, HaSeul. I want to talk about it now.” Jungeun said firmly. HaSeul winced at the sternness in her voice and the fact that she didn’t call her by her usual pet name, Seulie.

HeeJin tried to help out, even though she knew better not to get involved. “Jungeun, I can ask my father to change my bodyguard.”

The brunette was grateful by the gesture, but this wasn’t just about HaSeul being her bodyguard, it’s the fact that she accepted knowing the danger, remembering how she would feel by taking on this dangerous job. “Thank you, HeeJin, but regardless, HaSeul and I need to talk.”

Jungeun gave a reluctant nod to HeeJin. “I’ll leave HyunJinnie to you, ok?”

They stepped outside in the hallway and left HeeJin to be with HyunJin. HeeJin couldn’t help but hear their loud muffled voices through the door, well it was mainly Jungeun, basically yelling. She heard HaSeul’s pleading and apologetic voice in between Jungeun’s sentences. HeeJin wondered if this was going to happen between her and HyunJin eventually.

After a few minutes from their ‘discussion,’ HeeJin assumed at this point the shorter girl was embracing the latter. Jungeun’s stifled sobs could be heard while faint humming and singing was coming from HaSeul even though her song was muffled through the door and walls. HeeJin knew she had a beautiful voice; if an angel sang, it would sing just like HaSeul. 

The couple stepped back inside the room. The taller girl had her arm linked in HaSeul’s, tugging the shorter girl to be flush against her. Jungeun’s tears were sloppily wiped up, her nose runny and sniffling, and her face was a bit flustered from her frustration and crying. It was strange seeing Jungeun like this, she usually carried this tough and confident demeanor about her, but now she looked so feeble and vulnerable. 

HaSeul gazed warmly and softly at her girlfriend and left a kiss on her cheek, half cooing at her because she was still upset.

HeeJin couldn’t help but smirk a little. “You two are really cute. It would be cuter if you guys didn’t fight.”

Jungeun smirked back and furrowed her brows at her. “Yah! Are you trying to get back at me for teasing you earlier.”

“Hmmm, I wonder.” It was the first time HeeJin put up a real smile on her face since the other night, though it was small and faint. “And Lippie? That’s a cute pet name.”

“That’s because I find her lips absolutely irresistible.” HaSeul teased Jungeun and quickly kissed her lips, causing Jungeun’s ears to burn red. 

~ ~ ~

HeeJin visited HyunJin every day for two weeks without fail. She would spend most of her day being with HyunJin. Occasionally she would go with Jiwoo and Sooyoung. Sometimes even Jungeun and JinSoul. 

Today was the last time they have to visit the unconscious HyunJin. The doctors said it was finally time for HyunJin to wake up. She has been recovering well and faster than expected. Most of her other wounds have healed as well except her gunshot wound. She will need to remain here a bit longer for that reason. 

HeeJin watched curiously and eagerly as the doctor proceeded with the wake-up procedure. After a few long minutes, HyunJin was finally stirring awake from her coma. HeeJin couldn’t be any happier; tears of relief and happiness blurred her vision as she watched her slowly regain consciousness. HyunJin’s friends were also gathered in the small hospital room awaiting their friend’s return, even Jiwoo and Sooyoung were there. 

The doctor conducted a few necessary tests like tracking her eye movements, asking her to move certain body parts, and asking her simple questions like her name, birthday, and age.

After the doctor gave the okay, HeeJin was the first to come to HyunJin’s side. She was too eager and ecstatic, which made it hard to not knock the wind out HyunJin with her longing embrace. 

“BreadJin!” Her emotions of relief and joy came out in the form of tears. After releasing her from her arms, HeeJin placed a gentle kiss on HyunJin’s cheek, beaming from ear to ear.

HyunJin looked confused and lost, but that is understandable, considering she was asleep for so long, she must have a lot of questions. 

HyunJin nervously smiled. “U-uhm.” She looked a bit hesitant as she looked around the room and back at the girl beaming at her in tears. 

“M-My name is HyunJin…” 

HeeJin’s smile started to fade slowly.

When HyunJin scanned the room, she recognized her friends immediately, but there were a few faces she didn’t know or seem to recall. There was a couple standing in the back corner of the room; one of them was gorgeous, tall, slender, and had dark hair; her girlfriend was also beautiful with reddish-brown hair and bangs. 

She brought her attention back to the girl, who looked like an angel — the one who had hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

_“I’m sorry...who are you?”_

~ ~ ~


	9. Hope & Despair

What? 

_Did she really ask that? _

_To me? _

HeeJin shook her head in disbelief. No, she just must be dazed and confused, attempting to convince herself that there should be no concern. The dream she had of HyunJin disappearing resurfaced only for her to push it back into the depths of her mind, refusing that it may be a reality.

HeeJin looked once more at her confused girlfriend, despite her victory from her internal strife, her fear and anxiety all came back to her when she saw the expression of HyunJin’s face. The hospitalized girl was utterly lost, scanning her surroundings and struggling to hide the puzzlement and confusion she wore on her face of why she was in the hospital in the first place. HyunJin kept stealing glances at the forgotten girl. Her eyes only showed emptiness; they were blank. These weren’t the same eyes that once gazed upon HeeJin with care and affection. The same gaze she had grown accustomed to, the eyes that HeeJin found comfort in. 

HeeJin was quickly losing hope, and her confidence was faltering. She had to fight whatever blockade was in her throat to speak. “HyunJin...It’s me, Heekki.” She pleaded, her hand reached out to HyunJin, while the other clutched her chest as if she was trying to protect her own heart. What were once tears of joy, were turning into burning droplets of anxiety and desperation.

The girl in the hospital bed still had a perplexed look on her face, the sound of the once cherished pet name was unknown to her; it was like her first time hearing it. She hesitantly shook her head, unable to understand why a stranger locked into her eyes with such desperation and longingness. Why did that glassy look on the smaller girl’s face make her chest tighten so much?

HeeJin’s arm fell to her side, and her knuckles became white as the grip over her heart clenched even tighter. She felt nauseous as the room felt like it was closing in on her. Her breathing quickly turned into hyperventilating; she felt like she was drowning.

_Doesn't she know me?_

_She doesn’t remember me._

The hospital room became too suffocating; everything began to blur. HeeJin couldn’t take it; the feeling of this unwanted pressure ached her heart. She burst through the doors, and she ran, sprinted anywhere, anywhere but there. The air was thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe despite her lungs pumping her chest rapidly. 

_Was this a sick joke?_

_This must be a nightmare._

She frantically ran, no destination in mind, it was just a useless attempt to run from the reality she didn’t want to believe was true. Her legs felt weak, stumbling from her own weight. Eventually, she found herself in a dimly lit corridor somewhere in the hospital’s labyrinth of hallways and rooms. Pacing around, she tried to hold back her tears that were already streaming down her cheeks, but it was hopeless even to attempt as the waterworks began to pour harder down her porcelain cheeks. She collapsed on the ground and sobbed uncontrollably, clutching her heart from the pain.

It didn’t take long for SooYoung and Jiwoo to find the heartbroken girl. They ran after her as soon she escaped from HyunJin’s room. They immediately knelt to the ground and held their suffering friend. They were speechless. There were no words that could possibly comfort her in this situation. They couldn’t imagine the pain of having someone you loved, who once loved you back to completely forget about you as if your time together never even existed. All they could do was embrace her frail and shuddering body in silence, letting her know she wasn’t alone.

~ ~ ~

HyunJin didn’t understand the uncomfortable feeling that grew in her chest when she saw the girl leave, especially when there was a sudden sharp pang in her heart as soon as the first tear fell from those desperate eyes. Surely she would have remembered her if that girl made her feel this way.

The room bore an uncomfortable silence; the sound of medical equipment pierced the air in the uncomfortable and oppressive atmosphere. HyunJin’s friends were all in shock, not knowing what to say or do. They all feared they might have been forgotten too, all afraid to face the same reality as HeeJin. Jungeun’s voice wavered as she spoke up, she feared for the worst, bracing herself to have the same response that HeeJin received. “HyunJinnie?” 

HyunJin attempted to brush her heartache and smiled at her friends, back to something she was familiar with, she didn’t even know the reason she hospitalized in the first place. “Jungie, you guys are all here!” She was happy to see her friends gathered here. It was the one thing she knew and recognized, the only thing that kept her grounded from all the turmoil and confusion in her heart. 

The group of friends all sighed in relief, making them realized they were all holding their breath. At least she remembered them, but the brunette couldn’t help but feel guilty for HeeJin. Before she could speak and ask about the forgotten girl, the bedridden bodyguard spoke out.

“What happened? Why am I in the hospital? The last thing I remember...I was celebrating with all you guys for getting my new bodyguard job.” HyunJin wanted answers, she didn’t want to be pushy, but she was tired of feeling this way. She was tired of this confusion and inexplicable feeling that something important to her was lost. Even though it has only been minutes, it seemed like every second lasted ten times longer than it should have.

The group of friends was torn, should they break the news about her potentially lost precious memories. Maybe they should get the doctor and evaluate her brain? Or Maybe they should break the truth in hopes that it may jog some of her memories back. HyunJin’s mind had been set back a few months now. 

Yerim finally spoke out from the silence, unwilling to be straightforward, they opted for the safer route. “I’ll go get the doctor!” She fled from the room in search of the doctor in charge of HyunJin’s health.

~ ~ ~

Jungeun finally found HeeJin being comforted by SooYoung and Jiwoo. It’s already been a few hours since HeeJin ran out of the room. The two friends embracing the tear-stained girl looked up at the approaching brunette, they could only hope that there was somehow good news to tell HeeJin to cheer her up. Unfortunately, that was not the case once they saw the fearful expression on Jungeun. 

“U-Uhm, we got a doctor to check on HyunJin…” The brunette was struggling to be the bearer of bad news, but there wasn’t an easy way to tell HeeJin what was going on with HyunJin.

Jungeun took a deep breath, slowly breathing in and out, hoping HeeJin would match her deep inhales and long exhales. “He said she is suffering from amnesia...the blow to her head caused her to suffer some short term memory loss.” The brunette refused to look at the broken girl that was starting to tear up again, Jungeun knew seeing the tears from HeeJin would make her breakdown as well.

“H-Her- she has lost a few months of her memories...HeeJin...I’m so sorry,” Jungeun was losing her voice, trailing down into a whimper as her eyes glossed over. She was clenching the hem of her shirt to keep herself from crying. “Basically, anything with you has been lost.”

Immediately, Jungeun knelt on the floor and joined their group embrace, enveloping their arms around the ebony-haired girl as she began to break down once more. Sooyoung was caressing HeeJin’s head, giving her light kisses on top. Jiwoo was whispering in her ear, telling her they would get through this, that they will make HyunJin remember again. Even through desperate times like this, Jiwoo remained positive, and it was what HeeJin needed. 

~ ~ ~

HyunJin remained in the hospital for a few more weeks, recovering from her gunshot wound and monitoring her brain. She was in shock and speechless when the doctor and Jaden broke the news to her that she had lost months’ worth of her memories during her duty as a bodyguard. HyunJin recognized Jaden because he was the one that ended up interviewing her for the position months ago. The saddened father even told her that the person she was protecting was his daughter, HeeJin. But it still didn’t add up to the bodyguard. Why would HeeJin look at her in such a way that made her heartache. They must have been more than just a client and bodyguard. 

Not even HyunJin’s friends would fill her in on her genuine relationship with HeeJin. Well, it didn’t help that she was afraid to ask, but her friends would always seem to avoid the topic whenever she tried to bring up the forgotten girl. It only made her more curious, made her even restless at night. She could only wrack her brain to remember anything about the girl. She would even gently thump on her head as if it would help jog her memories to resurface. 

HeeJin stopped visiting HyunJin on her own. It pained her to see what was just a shell of the girl she knew. What was once a mutual blooming love, instantly became one-sided, as if it never existed for the latter. 

HeeJin decided to bury herself in the company’s work, and it was the best distraction she could find to keep her mind off HyunJin. Most nights, she would work until she fell asleep at her desk. Her friends were only concerned about her health, HeeJin refused to take breaks, sleep regular hours, and sometimes even to skip meals. Jiwoo and SooYoung would often visit their friend, forcing her to eat and also carry her to her bed whenever she slept at her desk. 

On rare occasions, HeeJin would muster up enough courage to tag along with Jungeun whenever she visited HyunJin. Well, you couldn’t call what HeeJin did as visiting. HeeJin would usually stay outside of HyunJin’s room, only to peer and observe the taller girl through the cracked door, and to hear HyunJin’s soft voice as she talked to her friends. She missed the warm voice that gave her comfort, missed how it used to give her butterflies, missed how it would make her smile and laugh.

She ridiculed herself at her bizarre behavior, laughed at her own cowardice. Laughed how something that was going so well and beautiful instantly crumbled into dust. It’s funny how someone that used to make you feel comfortable and complete can also make you feel so empty.

~ ~ ~

HyunJin couldn’t help but feel curious about HeeJin and why she hasn’t seen her since the first day she was hospitalized. She even asked about HeeJin a few times during Jungeun’s daily visits. The brunette wasn’t sure how to answer her friend or what to make of the question. She could only reply that HeeJin has been busy with her work and that she didn’t go out as much for security reasons. It was an acceptable answer, and it was mostly correct, but the brunette couldn’t help but think there was another meaning to her friend’s curiosity.

Was HyunJin just curious about her employer, or maybe she knew that there was something more to them than just a bodyguard and her client? It wasn’t hard to realize that HyunJin was struggling and making an effort to recall her lost memories. Jungeun would patiently watch over her friend. She was noticing how HyunJin would often space out and stare outside the window by her room. Seeing how the bodyguard would furrow her brows and almost glared at her fiddling thumbs when she was by herself in deep thought. These were all moments Jungeun manage to capture before walking into the room to greet HyunJin. 

Jungen couldn’t help but wonder where HeeJin was during all this? Shouldn’t she be putting the same effort as HyunJin? Shouldn’t she be the one guiding HyunJin through the darkness? Out of everyone, shouldn’t she be the one that would want HyunJin to remember all their precious moments together? Sure, she understood that HeeJin needed some time to recover, but it was becoming unacceptable that the shorter girl’s behavior hasn’t changed, if anything it has gotten worse. She continues to run from her problems.

Days go by, and Jungeun and SooYoung were finally fed up with HeeJin’s state of depression and isolation. Their concerns only grew when the future CEO’s behavior has continued to trend downward, still refusing to eat, sleep, or making any real effort to recover.

For Jiwoo and SooYoung, this wasn’t the HeeJin they knew. This wasn’t the same HeeJin that was headstrong and confident, ready to take on the world. This was the same girl that strode around with her head held up high, ready to become a CEO at any moment. The girl they considered their best friend was a shadow of her past self. She was now the same fearful and helpless child that had her parents taken away from her. A child distraught in the darkness.

The three girls decide to tell her what she needs to hear finally. They were done giving HeeJin space, and it wasn’t doing any good for her, if anything, keeping to herself was making her spiral into her own dark abyss. 

The girls were standing in front of HeeJin’s room and decided on a plan to confront HeeJin.

Sooyoung turned her voice down to a whisper. “Ok, so Jiwoo and I will try to talk to HeeJin calmly and sympathetically, we will try to reason with her patiently.” The remaining girls nod in response.

The taller girl continues, “And if that doesn’t work. Jungeun, we want you to take the side of HyunJin, maybe try and talk more sense into HeeJin explaining what HyunJin is going through. Hopefully, that will knock her out of her depressing state and go and see HyunJin again.”

Jungeun pondered about the idea and agreed with the plan. Jiwoo practically whispered yelled. “Like good cop, bad cop!” Her girlfriend quickly placed her index finger over the redhead’s mouth to quiet her down again and only nodded in response. 

HaSeul stood outside of HeeJin’s room while she worked, she didn’t have the same closeness with the shorter girl as HyunJin did. The bobbed hair bodyguard didn’t know what to say to HeeJin, and she couldn’t stand the depressing aura the taller girl let out. But she couldn't help but beam at the incoming girls, giving an encouraging nod to her girlfriend. The three responded to the bodyguard with firm fists in the air 'Fighting!'

The girls cautiously entered the room to find HeeJin slumped over her laptop, furiously typing away, without even acknowledging the presence of her friends. 

Jiwoo snuck up behind her best friend and slowly encircled her arms around HeeJin, carefully tightening her embrace and snuggling into her hair. “Heekki, you need to take a break.” 

HeeJin let out a sigh and replied with a monotone and flat voice. “I want to finish this presentation before I sleep tonight, Chuu.”

Jiwoo knew this was just an excuse; the meeting for this presentation wasn’t until a couple of weeks, so she countered her friend’s words. “I think it would be best to give your mind a rest, and you can look it over tomorrow with a fresh and clear mind. Okay?”

The ebony-haired girl reluctantly let out another sigh and decided to give her attention to the friends that now occupied her room. She irked an eyebrow at the three girls, as they all had a determined look on their faces, there was something more to their visit than making her rest. “So, what brings you all here?”

The three instantly noticed the heavy dark bags that hung under HeeJin’s eyes from the sleepless nights she has been pulling, the slightly sunken in cheeks from the result of not eating, her pale skin that appears sickly because she refuses to leave her room. What usually was a clean and organized room was cluttered with papers and books stacked on her desk and floor. Clothes were thrown and sprawled across the floor and her unmade bed. Empty bottles of energy drinks and even alcohol littered the area surrounding her small trash bin. 

“Well...we think that you need some help…” SooYoung nervously started, fumbling with the hems of her sleeves. 

HeeJin waved her hands at them as if it could brush away their concerned looks from their faces. “Guys, I am fine, really. I just need some time and space.”

Her friends remained unconvinced from the shorter girl's reasoning and continued to press on. Jiwoo decided to step up and gently cupped her best friend’s face. “Heekki, that’s obviously not working. Take a good look at yourself. You are literally destroying yourself. This isn’t healthy.”

The shorter girl couldn't help but roll her eyes at how overdramatic her friend's choice of words were. But there was no denying that she missed how it felt to be comforted and to be doted on. If only it didn't remind her of the one person’s warmth she desired for the most. To feel the touch that spurred butterflies to flutter within, to hear the voice that soothed her, and to gaze upon the beauty that was incomparable. It tore her apart, knowing she may never experience that sensation ever again. 

HeeJin grimaced to herself and turned her head away from her best friend’s hand, again denying their approach. “I just need a bit more time, and I’ll be like my old self again.”

“Which old self?” SooYoung countered. “Is it the same old self that had her doors closed, warding off anyone that tried to get near?”

HeeJin seemingly flinched at the thought, SooYoung took notice and knew she struck a chord from her past.

“Because that’s exactly what you are doing now and probably what you will continue to do.” The taller girl reached out and held her friend’s hand. “You aren’t opening up to us at all, Heekki. We don’t know what’s really going on with you. It’s like how you were when we first met.”

“Yeah, we are here for you, Heekki.” Jiwoo grasped HeeJin’s free hand with both of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You're not alone anymore. You have great friends that will always be by your side, and you even made new friends that are there for you.” The redhead glanced at Jungeun, who was softly rubbing HeeJin’s back. 

HeeJin couldn’t help but release a small smile, probably the first resemblance of a smile she has given in what feels like an eternity. She tried to give a reassuring nod to herself and let out a small thanks as another attempt to convince her friends she was better. 

Jiwoo saw through her facade and could only frown in response and shook her head towards her girlfriend. SooYoung knew they weren’t successful even without her redheaded girlfriend signaling her. 

Jungen decided it was time for her to step in and hopefully convince the shorter girl to open up. “HeeJin, you know HyunJin has asked about you…”

The sound of her lover’s name made HeeJin freeze. The room grew deafeningly quiet. The tick-tocks from her clock seemed to pound in her ears. She could feel Jungeun’s watchful gaze behind her head as if it was trying to peer into her thoughts. The ebony-haired girl didn’t realize she was holding her breath until her lungs begged for more air.

Jungeun continued as she discreetly watched the shorter girl’s body language, as there was no response from her yet. “HyunJin has mentioned you a few times.” She took another pause to gauge the shorter girl’s reaction, again nothing. “To be honest, I am not sure why she has asked about you. I always came up with an excuse that you couldn’t visit her. And I am also scared for you. Scared what her answer may be.”

HeeJin remained still. She was now fumbling with her fingers in thought. It was similar to how HyunJin looked when Jungeun would catch her by herself. 

“But maybe you could ask her. You could come and revisit her, for real this time — no more hiding behind the cracked open door. No more listening in on our conversation only to hear her voice. But actually face her yourself, HeeJin.” Jungeun’s voice was firm and steady.

HeeJin couldn’t help but feel embarrassed that the brunette noticed her cowardly actions. It really shouldn’t be surprising to anyone; she wasn’t exactly discreet about it.

She let out a heavy sigh and sat on her bed. “I can’t— I don’t know how to face her, Jungeun.”

Jiwoo sat next to her friend and wrapped an arm around her seemingly small shoulders. “It’s ok. We can go with you and see her together.”

“We will be right there with you Heekki, no matter what, we will be by your side.” SooYoung sat on the other side of HeeJin, cradling her hand.

HeeJin shook her head. “No, I don’t think I can face her again knowing she just won’t remember me, it just hurts so much.”

“You can make her remember! She won’t recall anything without your help, without being by her side.” Jiwoo flashed HeeJin a bright smile, and the latter only cursed at Jiwoo’s positivity. She would give anything to have a mindset like her best friend.

“Also...HyunJin has also been struggling.” The brunette clasped her arm behind her back, unsure if it was the right time to bring up the topic. 

HeeJin could only feel guilty that is was because of her. “With what exactly?”

“Whenever I see her alone, I always see her deep in thought — beating herself up to recall her lost memories. You should be there for her, HeeJin. I think you are the only one that can help.”

It was as if her friends’ words and encouragement were finally able to lift HeeJin out of her self demise. It was the sign of hope that she has been waiting for, like a ray of light peering through the waves above only to flicker off and be drowned out. 

There it was. 

The thought and imagery HeeJin tried her best to forget, fighting and shoving it into the darkest and deepest corner of her head so that it could never resurface. There was something else that kept her chained down in her abyss. Something else that haunted and shook her entire being. Another horrifying image burned into the back of her mind. An entity she believed could she could bury, but maybe it flourished in the darkness and was the root of her fears and nightmares.

HeeJin brought up her knees into her chest as she wrapped herself in her arms, shuddering at the real reason she closes herself off. She let her hair cascade over her face, like curtains that were pulled to cover the tears that began to flood her eyes. 

Jiwoo and SooYoung looked at each other and the helpless state of their close friend, not knowing what to do. It seemed like their words have had no effect on their friend and seemingly backfired. But their heads snapped at Jungeun’s response to the hopeless situation.

“Yah, is this all Jeon HeeJin is?” The brunette's tone was a bit aggressive. She shifted her weight over as she placed a hand on her hip; her brows were tightly knit. 

Jungeun was starting to get frustrated at the shorter girl, they were both stubborn, but Jungeun had a short fuse, and that fuse also made her spout words without thinking. 

“Just a scared little girl?” Jungeun approached her.

“Is this is all the love that you have for HyunJin?!”

HeeJin glared in response at the brunette that was only a step away from her face.

_“Maybe it was good she forgot you-”_

~ ~ ~


	10. Love & Recall

"Is this all the love that you have for HyunJin? Maybe it was good she forgot you-" Jungeun stopped herself, startled by the words that spiked the tension between her and HeeJin. The brunette didn't mean to say anything so harsh, but she was caught up in the moment, adrenaline coursing through her body, making it impossible to dam the words spilling out of her mouth.

HeeJin's vision blurred with hot tears of frustration and anger. Her face twisted into a mask of rage. How _DARE_ she say that. She sprung from the bed that she was previously curled up in and got right up to the Jungeun's face.

Startled by the sudden motion and aggressiveness, Jungeun tried to backtrack, immediately attempting to apologize only to be violently shoved by HeeJin. The brunette wasn't expecting any physical contact and crashed to the floor. Everyone in the room remained frozen in bewilderment.

HaSeul busted through the room's door in response to the loud crash. The bodyguard expected there to be some disagreement and maybe some yelling, but not violence. 

Snapping out of her shock, Jiwoo has never seen her best friend this furious before. It was her first time seeing her with any kind of anger. The usual kept together, and stable girl was long gone, ready to throw some fists. Her nostrils flared out, making it seem like she could blow steam from her hot anger. Her face furrowed so tightly that it contorted her serene beauty into pure fury. The redhead immediately wrapped herself around HeeJin's waist to prevent her from committing any more violent acts to the girl on the ground.

"You think this is just about HyunJin?!" Something snapped in Heejin, the bottle of self kept emotions had built up too much pressure inside of the small girl and relentlessly blew up at Jungeun.

The declaration from the furious brunette caused shock throughout the room. What else could cause HeeJin to break apart at the seams?

HeeJin towered over Jungeun, still lying on the floor, almost cowering in fear as Heejin was becoming unpredictable. She was thankful that Jiwoo gripped even tighter around her best friend's waist to help prevent anything. "It's not just HyunJin! Do you know what it's like to feel that you are a threat and danger to anyone and everyone around you?!"

The shorter girl cried out in despair, finally unveiling the shadow that has been haunting her since she was a child, but until recently, the fear that has been lurking in the back of her mind eventually consumed Heejin. "People died out there! And it's my fault that they are dead, Jungeun! My fault people got hurt! My fault that other families are suffering over lost loved ones!" 

HeeJin collapsed to her knees in front of the brunette with downcast eyes, and her forlorn voice tapered into a quivering whimper. "It's my fault HyunJin is like this now...my fault my parents are dead... It's all my fault." Tears were already streaming before her outburst, but somehow her tear ducts were overflowing more than ever.

"Ever since I was young and even as I grew older, I had always wondered why Jaden was so persistent for me to have so many security personnel and bodyguards. Did he know that this was going to happen someday?"

The tired girl knew her friends were right, that she was pathetic and HyunJin needed her. But she couldn't help feeling responsible that every terrible consequence and event was because of her existence. It was because of her that HyunJin was hurt. It was because she suddenly became a target for an assassin to come after her that led to her girlfriend's current state. She feared for the safety of others over her own, no one else needed to get hurt because of her. 

HeeJin glanced at HaSeul and traced her gaze back at Jungeun. "And how am I supposed to face you again if something were to happen to HaSeul?"

With HaSeul hired as HeeJin's new bodyguard, it only complicated things more for her. If she decided to go out in public again and only for history to repeat itself...Heejin shuddered at the scenes that flashed through her head. The terrified screams and wailing cries that pierced through the blaring emergency sirens. Splatters and pools of dark maroon blood that were no longer contained from the original bodies they came from. The air that smelt of burning flesh from the remains of lifeless corpses. The helplessness that HeeJin felt as the love of her life, HyunJin, was dying. She couldn't go through it again, and she sure as hell didn't want to drag anyone else into that same nightmare.

It all came to HeeJin too real and too soon. She has done anything to keep herself awake to avoid reliving the nightmare over and over again in her sleep.

"I decided to stay locked up in my room because this is the safest place I know. This is the only way I know how to keep everyone protected." HeeJin was broken, or maybe she has always been broken since her parents' death. She sat in defeat and hopelessness. Her voice came out as nothing but a shaky whisper. "Or maybe it would have been better if I was already dead. I should have died with my parents, and none of this would have happened."

"Oh, no, no." SooYoung came crying and cradled HeeJin, pushing the broken girl's head into the crook of her neck. She would never have thought that her friend wished for herself to be dead. "Don't you EVER think like that again, HeeJin."

Jiwoo followed in the sobbing party, still wrapped around HeeJin's waist, but holding her for different reasons now. Her embrace turned from a tight restriction and preventing notion into a comforting warmth.

SooYoung gently caressed HeeJin's head, running her hand through the sobbing girl's hair. "You deserve every bit to live HeeJin. I know your parents are watching you from above and have always been with you in spirit. In your heart. So you need to live for them, okay? I know they would want you to keep living out your life, experience everything that you can, find happiness, and find love, and you did just that, HeeJin. You have found friends that you can rely on and will be there for you when times get tough, and you have HyunJin. A girl that loves you and is willing to do anything for you, and based on what Jungeun said, HyunJin is fighting her own battle right now. She needs you."

The small girl nodded into the neck of her best friend, her tears sloppily covering her cheeks and soaking into SooYoung's shirt. 

Jungeun crawled over, a bit cautious, in fear her approach would be rejected. She slowly placed her hands over HeeJin's small hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. 

"I'm so scared," HeeJin confessed. Her crying has lessened considerably into a light tremor, no longer spilling out tears, but shaking more than anything. 

The taller girl maintained her tight hold around HeeJin, "I know, sweetie, anyone would be, knowing an assassin is after them."

"It's not that. I don't want to be a danger to anyone close to me anymore." SooYoung and Jiwoo couldn't help but flash a small smile. It is just like HeeJin to be selfless and care more for others' safety over her own. 

"It's okay, HeeJin we can figure something out." The redhead reassuringly said, then a light bulb popped on in her head. "I know what we can do! HyunJin's physical injuries are mostly healed, so how about we transfer her care to Blockberry. That way, you can visit her whenever you want without having to worry about endangering people for now. I'm sure Kahei will figure things out to deal with the assassins, we just need to hold out for a bit."

It was like a burden has finally been lifted off from her shoulders. HeeJin couldn't be any more grateful that her friends were so persistent about making sure she was okay. She should have relied on them earlier, things were different from before, and she isn't alone anymore.

Jungeun observed the group of friends, specifically HeeJin's regretful and apologetic stare back at her.

"I'm sorry Jungeun, I didn't mean to explode on you. I know you were trying to knock some sense into me, and I know you didn't mean those words, well at least I hope you didn't." HeeJin was insecure about what Jungeun thought of her now. She revealed such a disgraceful and ugly side to the brunette that maybe Jungeun meant those words now. 

Jungeun smiled softly at HeeJin, still holding her hand with care. "I didn't want to say such a thing to you, and I never meant to say anything so harsh. I want to apologize as well."

"It doesn't matter, it worked, and I want to thank you for that. I know we haven't been friends for very long, but I really appreciate what you have done for me." HeeJin smiled at Jungeun, then shifted her attention to her two tearful friends. "And of course I wouldn't forget about you two, who have been there me since the beginning. I don't know what I would do without you guys." 

HaSeul smiled at the four girls embracing one another on the floor. She was more than happy that everything was resolved. 

~ ~ ~

HeeJin researched more about short term memory loss, discovering that in a few cases, patients were able to recover their memories gradually. Perhaps triggering memories by taking them to important places or replaying important events would help. This is all HeeJin could hope for, and if things turned for worse, then she was determined to have HyunJin fall for her all over again.

The hospitalized bodyguard was lost in thought again, blankly staring out at the lone window in her room. This was normal for HyunJin. Her mind was stuck in a constant loop, recycling over and over the first day she was in the hospital. Since that day, she has yet to see the girl named HeeJin again. HyunJin was puzzled and curious, why a girl she only knew for a few months made her feel this way. Wasn't HeeJin just a client she was protecting?

Thoughts of how desperate HeeJin's eyes laid upon HyunJin that day made her heartache. Recalling the soft and insecure voice that called out her name almost brought tears to her eyes. For whatever reason, HyunJin wished she could go back in time and break the hold that prevented her strong urges that day. The yearning she felt for HeeJin, to hold her, to comfort her, to tell her everything was alright. She wanted so badly to indulge in her desires. 

The sudden presence of two figures walking in broke HyunJin's daily ritual trance. Around this time, it was typical for her doctor and nurse to come in and check up on her, Or even her friends to visit. But what she did not expect, was the sight of HeeJin and Jungeun walking in together. The girl that had been in her mind non-stop was before her. HyunJin wanted to ask countless questions, even practicing what to say to HeeJin when they finally met again. But when the time finally came, her mind went blank. All the hours of rehearsing her lines, nitpicking each word to speak went out the door, leaving her speechless at HeeJin's glowing beauty. 

HeeJin revealed a timid smile, her nervous hands fidgeting along the hems of her sweater's sleeves from HyunJin's obvious gaze upon her. Was it getting too warm in the room, maybe even the heater was on? The heat crept up HyunJin's neck, her heart soared and flipped at the sight of the shorter girl's smile. The sight of that smile casted a familiar warmth over HyunJin. It was an odd feeling. The unfamiliar, yet familiar emotions that welled up within her overflow

"Ah, Good morning BreadJi- HyunJin." HeeJin fiddled with her fingers, tugging at the extra lengths of her sleeves. She wasn't sure whether to speak familiarly or formally, not to mention she already slipped HyunJin's pet name from her mouth out of habit. 

The bodyguard remained speechless and in awe of the velvety voice that came from the ebony-haired girl. She wanted to hear more of the soothing sound that seemed to calm her yet made her heart anything but calm.

Both girls were awkward with one another, and it was to be expected. Jungeun decided to give an encouraging nudge to HeeJin, still rooting for her and reminding her she was there if she was needed.

HeeJin cleared her throat, her eyes scattering around the room as if anything but HyunJin was of interest. "Uh- I was hoping- well, wondering if you would feel comfortable moving in with me."

After the bold declaration, it was impossible to stop the fiery redness from flooding HyunJin's cheeks. Jungeun held in her laughter while HeeJin was oblivious to her choice of words. 

A few moments too long, it finally clicked, the shorter girl covered her face in an attempt to hide her pink cheeks, reflecting HyunJin's similar blushed face. "No, that's not what I meant. Oh, my God. I meant coming to me. No, coming over my place to-"

Jungeun couldn't contain her stifled laughs anymore and unleashed her full fledge shrieks. HeeJin pouted and playfully pushed Jungeun. "Don't just laugh," HeeJin whined. 

It took a few minutes for Jungeun to recover and finally made it clear to HyunJin. "What she is trying to say- is if you are willing to continue recovering back at Blockberry instead of the hospital."

Without knowing, HyunJin smiled, revealing her pronounced canines, her cheeks pushing up against her eyes to form crescents. "I-I would really like that."

~ ~ ~

After being bedridden for so long with the severe lack of physical activities, HyunJin's body had become stiff and weaker than her former glory. She decided to take some physical therapy sessions to help her muscles gain their strength back.

HyunJin really enjoyed her physical therapy. Well, not the sessions themselves, but because HeeJin spent every second with her. The bodyguard felt comfortable around HeeJin; it felt natural to be by her side. They must have been close, as if they have known each other for years, but HyunJin couldn't get the odd feeling that lingered between them. Almost as if HeeJin was holding herself back, keeping a certain distance from HyunJin. The bodyguard felt hurt that there shouldn't be any restrictions between them, but she didn't want to damage what they currently have. HyunJin didn't want to ask about their past, thinking it would only hurt HeeJin, so she kept her questions to herself, bottled up and stored in the back of her mind.

Only a couple of weeks later, HyunJin made a full recovery from her physical injuries. She was back in peak shape, only now she had some brutal scars that marked her body. 

HyunJin was on the gym floor, stretching her legs out from her workout. She put a good sweat in, and it felt great to finally go all out with her exercises. The door swung open, and HeeJin shyly stepped in carrying a towel and water bottle, her face instantly glowed pink at the sight she stumbled upon. HyunJin was wearing her typical gym attire, tight leggings that conformed to every curve of her hips and legs, her sports bra and her sloppy ponytail revealed her toned rippling back muscles and abs. 

It was hard for HeeJin to not blatantly stare, but she couldn't break her gaze once she spotted the new scar on HyunJin's abdomen from when she was shot, it was her first time seeing any of HyunJin's new scars. Her hand moved on her own, she approached her bodyguard and placed her fingertips over the imperfect skin tissue, wishing to turn back time. 

HyunJin was startled by the sudden contact, but her body almost welcomed it, as if it has been longing for HeeJin's touch all this time. She was in a trance, staring at the small hand that pressed warmly against her skin. She looked up towards HeeJin, and her heart broke when a tear rolled down the girl's cheek. 

"HeeJin, what's wrong?" The taller girl asked as she wiped the stray tear. 

HeeJin didn't even realize she was touching HyunJin and pulled her hand back. It's been so long since they've touched. It used to be second nature, for their hands to hold, their arms to link with one another, to warmly embrace each other. Maybe HeeJin was being hopeful, but she swore HyunJin slightly frowned from the loss of contact. 

"Oh, Uhm, it's just that-" HeeJin wanted to cry again, but not in front of HyunJin. Her mind would often have flashbacks of that awful day. "I feel like this was all my fault." Her shaky voice was barely audible.

HyunJin immediately closed the distance and wrapped HeeJin into her. She didn't know why, but it felt like HeeJin fit perfectly in her arms, as if they were two puzzle pieces that were meant to join together. The taller girl melted into the shorter girl, hugging her a bit tighter, whispering into her ear, not to blame herself.

They both remained in the center of the gym, joined together, not moving a single muscle. A comfortable silence filled the room, both parties wanting this moment to last forever. HeeJin wanted to tell HyunJin how much she misses her, how much she has wanted this. HeeJin tried to say to her that she loved her and wanted to kiss her so badly. But she couldn't, fearing all those things would scare HyunJin away. She didn't want to ruin the progress they have made so far.

HeeJin broke their hug, then clearing her throat, forgetting the main reason she came down to visit HyunJin. "I-I brought these to you," handing over the towel and drink over. "Jaden would like to meet with you when you can."

~ ~ ~

It was a bit nerve-wracking for HyunJin to be sitting in front of the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. Though she has technically been working for him for a while now, she was more nervous because she couldn't remember if Jaden was your stereotypical tight ass CEO or if he was unexpectedly friendly. It also didn't help that HeeJin seemed just as nervous as HyunJin.

Just when Jaden was about to speak, he hesitated to take a glance at his daughter, then back to HyunJin. "So HyunJin, I know from your memory loss it may not seem like you have been working here, but I can assure you that you have been doing an outstanding job so far."

HyunJin releases an exhale, not realizing she has been holding her breath since she noticed Jaden's hesitation.

"I can't thank you enough for keeping my daughter safe and unharmed from the terrible incident that occurred not too long ago. Especially at the expense of not just your well being, but your memories too. I wish we could do more and reward you for your courageous acts, but all I can grant you is paying off hospital bills and a generous bonus payment."

Jaden gets up from his chair. His back faces the two girls as he gazed beyond the city skyline. "Now that you have fully recovered, at least physically, and we have HaSeul protecting HeeJin. I wanted to give you some options."

The bodyguard shifted in her seat, trying to somehow ease her nervousness. Even though there was only a slight pause, the anticipation was killing her.

"Before offering you these options, I discussed this with my daughter on multiple occasions, making sure she was truly fine with the possibilities that may occur based on your decisions. HyunJin, you were very-" Jaden spins around to face his daughter with a sorrowful look, then making eye contact with HyunJin. "-close to my daughter."

HyunJin turned to face HeeJin, who was already looking in her direction. They maintained eye contact with one another, the shorter girl's eyes were a bit shaky from her nerves, eventually breaking their connected gaze. 

"I am going to let you decide on which path you would like to pursue." Jaden proceeded to continue, breaking the girls' trance. "You can continue to work for me as a bodyguard protecting HeeJin, or you can opt-out of our contract and be relieved of your duties without any penalties. I know this will be a difficult decision for you, but you may decide now, or we can give you a few days to think it over."

Once again, silence filled the room with the absence of spoken words. HyunJin was given a choice, did she want to continue her job as a bodyguard for HeeJin, knowing that the situation would obviously be dangerous and that she could get injured like previously or even worse. 

HeeJin was conflicted with herself. She didn't want to see HyunJin hurt ever again, so she hoped that HyunJin wouldn't accept the job again, but deep in her heart, she didn't wish for HyunJin to go. She wouldn't be able to see her every day...maybe ever. There would be no reason for HyunJin to make any contact with HeeJin again if she refused the job. If it were possible to recover HyunJin's memories, her not being with HeeJin would make it almost impossible if she wasn't going to be by her side. 

HyunJin wasn't sure what to do, what choice to make. She looked up at HeeJin, and something inside of her sparked. Something in the back of her mind told her she needed to protect her. _That she needed to be by her side._

"I'll decide right now." The bodyguard spoke up, suddenly breaking the silence. HeeJin's full attention was brought to HyunJin. Her anxious gaze was returned with HyunJin's own. "I-I still want to be HeeJin's bodyguard."

A small smile crept on HeeJin's face, making HyunJin's heart race at the sight of the beautiful smile she has quickly grown fond of.

~ ~ ~

HyunJin could only wonder what kind of relationship she had with the other girl. But if there was one thing she was sure of was her feelings for HeeJin. Whether her feelings have always been there or maybe even blossomed just recently, the more time she spent with HeeJin, the more it was evident that they were close. It must have hurt the shorter girl so much that she couldn't remember anything from the past few months.

HeeJin requested HyunJin's bread from her favorite bakery. The bodyguard was happy when HeeJin told her where she ordered from. It surprised her more when the shorter girl ordered her favorite thing on the menu without even asking. Maybe it was a coincidence? No, she knew HeeJin knew her well.

The sight of chocolate bread excited HyunJin, unable to contain the ear to ear smile, making HeeJin reflect the same reaction. It was the first time HyunJin saw HeeJin's real smile. A smile that didn't harbor any sadness. A smile that made her heart flutter made her feel warm inside. 

HyunJin was grateful to eat something from her favorite bakery. It's been so long since she's had her treasured chocolate bread, but for some reason, there was this empty feeling while she ate. Usually, the heavenly snack only brought her joy and giddiness, yet tonight was different. It wasn't the same as how she remembered. And HyunJin couldn't ignore the longingness in HeeJin's eyes as she watched her eat.

"Thank you for buying this bread. It's my favorite. I haven't had it in months!"

Nodding, HeeJin weakly smiled, a smile that HyunJin didn't like seeing. A smile that HeeJin often wore around the latter. Curious as to why every smile that displayed on HeeJin's face wasn't real or always had some kind of underlying broken-ness to it.

HeeJin grabbed a napkin and gently wiped the chocolate off the corners of HyunJin's mouth. She was happy and relieved that HyunJin was still HyunJin. She was still a messy eater, as she has always been. Ever since HeeJin delved into researching memory loss and comatose, she had a fear of HyunJin's personality altering. 

The taller girl's heart raced, her heart hammering against her chest. She had suspected for a while now that her previous self must have had strong feelings for HeeJin. Whatever the smaller girl did, would cause her heart to skip, her stomach to tingle. Made her long for something more, her hands would naturally linger to touch and feel and HeeJin. HyunJin would always find herself lost in HeeJin's beautiful warm coffee eyes. 

But there was something odd about their situation, maybe even off-putting. Why hasn't HeeJin mentioned anything about their previous relationship? Even HyunJin's friends avoided the topic. Were they lovers? Based on how HeeJin acts, it was a possibility. If she has felt this strongly for her, wouldn't HeeJin want to get back to how they used to be as soon as possible? Or maybe they weren't lovers yet, or this feeling has always been one-sided. The taller girl did her best to remain patient, and she knew it must be difficult for HeeJin to tell her what they were. So in hopes that one day the shorter girl will tell her what they used to be, she remained in waiting.

Minutes passed by, and silence filled the room. They gazed into each other's eyes, and subconsciously, they slowly inched closer and closer into each other. HyunJin didn't fully comprehend why she couldn't halt her body, but the feeling in her chest wasn't something she could ignore. This felt so right, something she felt like she had been longing for this exact moment to happen. HyunJin felt like she was trapped in HeeJin's gravitational pull, there was nothing that she could that would stop this, and she was okay with that. By now, the bodyguard was anticipating for their lips to connect. What should have only been only a few long seconds, seemed like an eternity. 

Their lips were only a mere inch apart, their eyes automatically fluttered closed, and to HyunJin, it was as if it were second nature. There was no denying that HeeJin was someone unbelievably special to her. HyunJin couldn't help but feel nervous. The feeling felt so familiar yet alien to her all at the same time. She clenched her eyes a bit tighter, her body tensing up slightly from the ghosting of HeeJin's lips against her own. The supposedly silent room was filled with the hammering of her own heart. Just a little bit more-

Suddenly, the room went black.

~ ~ ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I am just terrible at updating my stories, so I apologize for the wait!


	11. Stay & Protect

Emergency lights flooded the apartment, and HeeJin and HyunJin quickly broke apart. Heejin bit the inside of her cheek, cursing at whatever prevented their kiss. They were so close to gaining back just an ounce of what they lost. The brunette was optimistic, sure she didn't believe in cheesy fairytales, and as cheesy as it sounded, she hoped that their kiss would unlock the missing memories of the bodyguard. 

In the midst of the confusion, HyunJin sensed there was something wrong in the air. Her gut urged her to stay alert. As if HaSeul was sharing the same brain, she walked in from the front door to check on them. "Are you two, alright?" 

HyunJin responds not even a second later while maintaining eye contact with HeeJin. "Yeah, we are ok." The bodyguard brings up a hand to her ear, touching her earpiece to reach headquarters. "Control, this is Agent Kim. What's the situation?"

She paused before contacting again. "Control, this is Agent Kim."

"Control?" Just like the past two times, there was no response from the security headquarters. She grew wary of the situation, not liking that communication could be down. It only made the air tenser, the sense of danger more imminent.

HyunJin looked towards HaSeul, and the senior bodyguard already knew what the younger was implying, she attempted to contact control, but with no luck, she ended in the same result. 

HaSeul let out a frustrated huff of air. "Comms are down. Maybe something is jamming it, or the power has been cut completely off." HaSeul theorized. "We should head down to headquart-"

The sound of shattering glass interrupted the bodyguard, silencing the three. The sound came from the direction of HeeJin's room. It seems like unwelcome visitors came from the rooftop and breached through the balcony. HaSeul unholstered her pistol, HyunJin followed suit. Without uttering a word, the senior bodyguard signaled for everyone to find cover. She placed herself behind the wall of the hallway entrance that led to HeeJin's room. HyunJin took hold of HeeJin's trembling hand and guided her towards the back of the living room. 

Suddenly the door broke apart and splintered as the women were preparing to hide. HyunJin realized they were still out in the open. The younger bodyguard yanked HeeJin into her arms and dove for the nearest cover, falling behind the couch.

Two masked men entered the room, spraying a rain of bullets at the direction of the two, tracing the movements of the evading couple, giving the couch a new pattern of bullet holes that tore through the leather and stuffing. Not even a second passed when HaSeul came out from her hiding place, landing a single bullet into the head of the nearest intruder, instantly ending his life. 

The other henchman was quick to react, already aiming the gun towards HaSeul, but he wasn't that fast. She read his next move as if they were playing a game of chess. She was already one step ahead. Right after she fired her first shot, she ducked and rolled on the ground. Bullets filled the now empty space of where the bodyguard was standing. The man realized too late that HaSeul was on the ground. She fired her gun into his leg then with a sweeping kick, she kicked his legs right from under him, causing him to collapse. Haseul quickly wraps herself around his arm that held his gun, swiftly bending his elbow backward in a right angle. A series of gruesome cracks of snapping joints and tearing ligaments made the man scream in anguish, forcing him to release his weapon. In a matter of seconds, she brought out her cuffs and restrained him. 

Knowing the area was now clear, HyunJin helped HeeJin up from their hiding place, double-checking the shorter girl was free of any injuries. HaSeul turned the man over to start questioning him, but foam began to bubble out from his fabric mask, killing himself from a hidden poison in his mouth.

HaSeul clicked her tongue as she ran her hand through her hair to reveal a grim face. "Dammit, it looks like these guys are not to be captured from leaking any information."

HeeJin remained frozen, her eyes shaking at the two dead bodies. Eventually, she was snapped out of her stupor when HyunJin pinched her hard. "Hey, are you ok?" The younger bodyguard asked softly.

The brunette was unresponsive. HeeJin's eyes trailed down to where a bullet grazed HyunJin's arm. A clean tear in the blazer's sleeve revealed her broken skin that leaked blood down to her hands and stained the outside of the fabric.

The shorter girl didn't respond, and she trembled in fear, her mind was a mess. HyunJin wrapped her arms around her, she knew this wasn't standard protocol for a bodyguard, but it just felt natural. "It's going to be ok. HaSeul and I will protect you. No one is going to harm you."

That was part of HeeJin's fear, but she was more scared for everyone's safety. Why did fatal events follow her, involving others into the fray, especially for her loved ones? This was precisely why she didn't want to leave her apartment, why she kept herself holed up to involve fewer people. But they still came after her, and now everyone in Blockberry was in danger. Thankfully it was after hours, and all the office workers had already gone home, leaving only the security team, but that still didn't sit well with HeeJin. And the fact that HyunJin already got injured brought out memories of the bodyguard in a coma.

Again, HyunJin woke HeeJin from her stupor and talked some sense into her, bringing her mind back to the present. "Snap out of it. We need you to cooperate with us if we are all going to make it out of this alive." 

Hearing HyunJin's words brought HeeJin back to the present. HyunJin was right, she needed to do what she can now. Brooding in the past isn't going to help, and if her lack of awareness killed her bodyguards, then she wouldn't know how to live with herself anymore.

HaSeul checked the bodies to gather whatever equipment that could aid them. "We don't know if backup will arrive from the lower floors. We can hope they had started moving when the power went out, but we don't know how many enemies there are. So security might be kept busy." The senior guard grabbed the leftover P90 submachine guns, then checking for extra ammo and from the dead men.

After a thorough search of the dead bodies, she walked over to the two. "Here, HyunJin." She handed her one of the fully-auto firearms and two extra magazines to HyunJin. "We will have to use our ammo wisely, this is all we get unless we scavenge more from them, but I would like to avoid any more encounters."

"Sounds easier said than done." HyunJin doubtfully stated. Of course, it would be ideal to avoid any more conflict, but without knowing the enemy force's numbers or location, the building could be crawling with enemies. And if they stayed here, they were stuck at a dead end and could only hold them off with their scarce ammo. 

As if HaSeul could read the younger girl's mind, she handed her a walkie-talkie. "Luckily, I found these." She gestured to the lifeless corpses. "These are the comms for the intruders. Now we have ears on the enemy for any updates on their positioning."

HyunJin stated, "That's a start." They both unplug their earpieces from their security radio and into the enemies radio. "I guess we should get moving." 

"I agree. This location is compromised once they check-in, and they don't respond. So we should move while we have a head start." HaSeul explained. 

Without any more delay, they move to the front door. HyunJin grabbed HeeJin's hand without thinking and kept her close. HaSeul presses her pointer finger against her lips, signaling not to speak once they leave this room. The other two nod in response, confirming the order. HaSeul then indicated she would take point and for HyunJin to cover the rear, keeping HeeJin in the middle. The taller girl was still able to feel the shaky nervousness in HeeJin's hand, so HyunJin gently squeezed it to reassure her. 

The senior guard slowly brings the door handle down, and with a small push, she peeks through the ajar opening without a sound. The elevator lobby was dark, and only certain areas were lit with emergency lights, making it hard to scan the area. Keeping low, HaSeul opens the door wider and takes her first step outside. She spotted the stairwell sign, and the room was seemingly clear, so she signals for the others to come out as she moves ahead.

Luckily there were no signs of others in the area, and the three gathered in the stairwell and began the trek down. Surprisingly the stairs were left alone, empty of harmful threats. Most of the enemies were positioned in the floors behind closed doors, scouring the area, searching and hunting for their target. They moved swiftly and quietly, at least the bodyguards trained steps were almost unheard. 

HeeJin did her best to calm her nerves, focusing on every single step she took helped a bit. It took a while for her vision to adjust to the darkened building she was so familiar with. HeeJin carefully placed each foot in front of the other, as if she was stepping onto a glass plane that could shatter if she put down too much force. Every step that landed on the floor felt like it rang in her ears. Was it really as loud as she imagined, or was it the dead silence of the cavernous staircase that made everything seem much more intense? Or was it the adrenaline coursing through her body that caused her heart to hammer in her ears that made everything deafening?

Suddenly, HaSeul put her fist up with her arm at a right angle, telling the group to stop. HeeJin would have crashed into the senior bodyguard if it wasn't for HyunJin you wrapped her arm around her waist to catch her. 

HaSeul furrowed her brows as she honed her focus, straining her ears, listening to the radio transmission. HyunJin also heard the enemies' new movement. They needed to get out of the stairwell fast. The shorter bodyguard led them to the next floor, quickly checking all sides before signaling the rest to follow. As soon as the door fully closed, guided by HyunJin to make no sound, a door opened from the floor below, unveiling a couple of men entering the now empty stairwell. 

They thought they were in the clear until HaSeul's eyes widened as she peeked ahead, there were five enemies in the next room. She strained her brain to think of routes and tactics that could get them passed unnoticed, but it was all too risky, too many eyes watched the room from different angles. It would be impossible to sneak past all of them without being caught. They had to go back in the stairwell with the two intruders still there. 

HeeJin attempted to follow the series of complicated hand signals HaSeul displayed, but she couldn't make out any of it. Of course, the senior guard was mainly communicating to HyunJin, but HeeJin grew anxious being kept in the dark about what they were going to do next.

This time, HyunJin led them back into the stairwell, urging HeeJin to stay and wait briefly. HyunJin made sure the two men in the stairs passed the door, and in one swift motion, HaSeul and HyunJin quietly entered the area, unsheathing their tactical knives. The two female guards rushed the two men, ambushing them before they could even react. They simultaneously kicked the back of their knee, causing them to fall back into the women. Before they could utter a sound, the bodyguards covered their masked mouths with their hand and slashed the jugulars of their throats, quickly killing the two intruders. If you had blinked, you would have missed the kill, as the two women were already gently carrying the bodies to the ground to prevent a loud crash.

HyunJin went back to get HeeJin, covering her eyes with her sleeve to prevent her from seeing the blood-splattered walls and dead bodies. She made sure they were down a floor before uncovering her eyes. After sifting through the corpses, scavenging for ammo, HaSeul joined the other two. 

It took a moment for HyunJin's mind to register what she had done just a few minutes ago until she saw the blood staining deep into the skin of her pale hands. The deep red seeped into her pores, as it began haunting her that the red will permanently remain in her skin no matter how hard she would struggle to scrub it out.

_She killed someone._

She has never killed another person before. It was so easy. To end a person's life just like that, ending the years of a living life in a matter of seconds. Her hands were now forever tainted, she had to live with blood on her hands for the rest of her life. The longer she stared at her hands the more they began to shake, the more they became unrecognizable. These weren't her hands. They couldn't be.

_She was a murderer._

HyunJin's mind started to swirl into a dark abyss. The skeletons in her closet were now the bones of the dead. The life that she ended that would only add to more. Oh God, she would have to end more lives. She wasn't any better than the same men that were out to kill them, to kill HeeJin. 

_She was just like them._

HeeJin saw the panic in HyunJin's eyes. She wanted to say something to her, but they had to stay quiet. Without hesitating, she closed the distance between them and gently cupped HyunJin's face forcing her to look up and gaze into her eyes, giving the bodyguard something else to focus on to distract her dark thoughts. The sight of the deep coffee orbs brought HyunJin back to reality, bringing her back to a state of calmness. A tear rolled down her cheek. She did what she had to do, HyunJin needed to protect the person she loved. Wait, _loved?_

If HeeJin weren't already leaning into to kiss HyunJin's forehead, she would have noticed a flash of familiarity in HyunJin's eyes. The same twinkle and longingness that watched over her with grace and love. 

HaSeul kept watch as the younger bodyguard was undergoing her panic attack. She knew what it felt like, what her junior was going through now. She has only killed a handful of people, and the first kill is the worst, and it still haunted her. Unless you had no heart, killing made the heart suffer as if a huge weight and burden has been put on your soul. It almost felt as if a part of you died.

Some say the feeling gets easier the more you do it, but HaSeul would strongly disagree with that statement. She thinks you just start to feel numb to protect yourself, to protect your sanity. To keep your mind and thoughts from driving you crazy. To make sure you were still you and not some monster that was out for meaningless blood. The more you killed, the more guilt piled over you. The dead souls would haunt your dreams, like a curse that caused you to wake up in a cold sweat for countless nights. But this was not the time and place to start HyunJin's recovery. They needed to move now.

_"Team Bravo, your report is late."_

__

__

_"Team Bravo._"

Both bodyguards became alert after hearing the enemy commander demand for a report by the assumed dead men. _Time was up_. They didn't have much time as the enemy forces will now mobilize more aggressively, knowing that their men were missing.

They waited to hear more commands, but there was nothing but radio silence.

"Shit, they must have changed to a coded frequency." HaSeul quietly hissed.

Just a few seconds passed after the last radio transmission, and a loud bang echoed through the silent air. The five men from the room above began descending the stairs, walking over their dead comrades as if they were part of the room's decor. 

They couldn't remain here any longer. HaSeul swung the next door open, exiting the staircase, only to be sighted by three men heading towards the stairs. 

HaSeul raised her weapon. "Fuck." They lost their only shield, and their stealthy cover was blown. From here on out, it will be a bloodbath if they had any chance of coming out alive.

HyunJin wanted to hesitate; she didn't want to kill anymore. Her heart began arguing with her mind, she didn't want to end any more lives, but there was no room or time for a single second to be lost. The enemy wouldn't even blink to kill her, so she needed to do the same. Logic won this battle, and her body moved on instinct, from years of training as the bodyguard brought her weapon to her shoulder, aiming at the men straight ahead. 

With short controlled bursts, the two bodyguards open fired, lighting up the poor bastards before they could even touch the trigger. Their bodies hit the floor, and the three ran ahead. Now the enemy will be alerted from the gunfire that pierced through the walls of the once silent building. HyunJin pulled Heejin forward to pull her upfront, already knowing what was coming next.

Five men came rushing in from behind from the same stairwell they exited. HyunJin forcefully shoved Heejin to the nearest cover, making her fall to the ground behind a wall. Like clockwork, HyunJin and HaSeul spun on their heels, partially behind walls. They planted one knee to the ground to stabilize their aim. They squeezed the trigger unloading the rest of their magazine into the five enemies that chased after them. 

Both parties released an onslaught of hot lead at each other. Dozens of bullet cases hit the ground, just like the bodies of men that were slain. The younger bodyguard ejected the empty magazine and slid a fresh one in while she glanced to her left. To her horror, HaSeul was on the floor, her blood splattered against the wall behind her.

HyunJin quickly and carefully grasped her small figure and dragged her body to the same cover HeeJin and HyunJin hid behind. HaSeul winced from the sharp pain, biting into her bottom lip hard enough to make it bleed. Her shoulder caught a bullet amid their short firefight. 

Blood started to pool through HaSeul's jacket, her once white shirt beginning to turn a vibrant crimson red. HeeJin started hyperventilating at the sight. This was all her fault. Her friends were in danger because of her. They shouldn't have been here. If HeeJin were dead already, they would be away from danger. 

The younger bodyguard tore off her already ripped sleeve and tied it tight around HaSeul's injured shoulder to stop the bleeding. "ARGHHH." HaSeul hissed in between her clenched teeth, the sudden pressure adding a brief moment of sharp pain.

Trying to stay calm at this moment was near impossible. HyunJin was inexperienced. Most bodyguards didn't have to go through as much violence and danger as she had already in her short time of service. It felt as if she was fighting a war rather than being someone's shield. It didn't help that HeeJin was seemingly having an anxiety attack. It hurt her heart to see HeeJin in pain, but HyunJin needed to tend to HaSeul's wounds first.

Wishing the situation would get a tiny bit better, their hopes of wishful thinking were turned into dust once the staircase door burst open. At least a dozen uniformed men came filing out as they began to encircle the area, fanning out to box them in. They cautiously approached, called out commands to search the floor; each step was one step closer towards finding them.

"FUCK, can't we catch a goddamn break," HyunJin whispered.

The senior guard wracked her mind to think of a way out of this situation, but could only find one solution in the heat of the moment. "You two need to leave."

The taller woman furrowed her brows, thinking she had misheard HaSeul. "What?"

HaSeul began gathering herself, sitting up straight against the wall, and reloading her firearm. "Keep HeeJin protected. I'll hold them off."

_No, No,_ she couldn't leave HaSeul behind. HyunJin did her best to make a plea, to come up with some other way. "Unnie-"

"Go!" HaSeul pressed them to leave, hearing none of it. 

It was pointless to argue with HaSeul, she had made up her mind, and HyunJin knew that, and there was no time to come up with another plan. She wanted to stay and fight with her, but that was not her duty. Holding back tears, the younger bodyguard laid down her extra ammo next to HaSeul. "Give them hell." 

"You know, I will," HaSeul smirked. 

HyunJin forced herself to turn away, taking a step in the opposite direction, and began walking, tugging HeeJin to follow her. There was no choice but to make it out alive, that is the debt she owed her senior. HaSeul's sacrifice would not be in vain.

_Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look back._

The phrase repeated in HyunJin's head over and over like a mantra. She knew once she turned to face HaSeul one last time, she would turn back and die trying to protect her dear friend.

Unlike the bodyguard, HeeJin watched HaSeul's figure appear smaller and smaller as they ran. She reached out, wanting to yell her name, to call for her. But they couldn't let the enemies know they were on the move, escaping through a different stairwell. Another girl appeared in her head. How was she supposed to break the news that she left her girlfriend for dead? HeeJin's tears began to fall. She will do anything just to get a chance to beg for forgiveness.

_Jungeun, I'm so sorry._

~ ~ ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yahello, it's been a while, I know, I'm sorry. But did you all expect such an action-packed chapter? Anyways, this story is nearing its end, a couple more chapters left. It's somewhat of a bittersweet feeling for me to finally finish my first ever fanfic.


	12. Love & Protect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Note: As a warning, this chapter contains violence, blood and gore, and brutal killing.*

HaSeul watched the two retreat in the opposite direction, hugging the maze of walls to keep themselves hidden in the shadows. A sigh of relief was released knowing HeeJin and HyunJin were safe for the time being. She placed her palm against the wall, smearing the white walls with her crimson handprint, lifting her battered body into a crouching position. She grabbed an empty magazine and slid it across the floor away from her, directing it further from her current hiding spot. The hollow metal case rang out a satisfying clatter, disrupting the organized movements of the enemies. 

"Hey! Go check that out!" One of them yelled, and they cautiously approached the source of the sound.

The senior guard steadied her breathing, calming her racing heart. It would be reckless of her to be hasty. Patience was a virtue, and she needed to wait for the right time to strike her ambush no matter how antsy her finger was on the trigger to squeeze it early. HaSeul had already accepted this to be her last stand. No matter how you spin it, twelve against one isn't a very good or ideal scenario. There was also her injured arm to factor in, which would slow her reload speed and make it that much more challenging to aim. And last she checked, these men weren't like the previous ones. They are armed with assault rifles and adorned with heavy armor and helmets over their bodies. She would bet that these men were more skilled than the men she previously encountered.

She peeked from behind the wall to check their movements. She still has time. There was one last thing she needed to do before she proceeded with her suicide mission. HaSeul plucked her phone out of her jacket pocket, her finger quickly unlocking the device. Her facial features immediately relaxed, her eyes softened at her phone's background of Jungeun and her. The sight of her girlfriend always calmed HaSeul, even if they were in the middle of a fight. She loved her so much, and she had honestly lucked out. What did she do in her life or past life to deserve the blessed soul known as Jungeun? HaSeul could only hope the next person Jungeun meets will grant her more happiness and love than she can offer.

Her eyes watered, thinking she would not be able to come back home, to go back to the warm embrace of the arms of her beloved. HaSeul had always promised she would come back safe and sound, both knowing that HaSeul couldn't control whatever outcome may happen during her duties. But tonight will be the first time she will have to break that promise. 

Realizing she was running out of time, she quickly typed a short message.

_I love you so much, Jungeun. _

With that, she closed her eyes, clutched the phone in her hand against her chest, powering the device down. HaSeul did her best to find her peace. After a few deep breaths, her eyes narrowed, sharpening her senses. She focused on one thing. Kill as many of those bastards before she does down.

She checked the movement of the intruders, and their backs were facing her. It was now or never. A deep inhale and a slow exhale as she steadied her aim at their exposed necks. Tightening her grip on her firearm, she braced for the recoil and squeezed the trigger. A quick burst of bullets ripped through the closest man's neck. _One down_. While they were in a state of surprise, she quickly switched to her next target, and another pull of the trigger killed the next closest man, just like the previous. _Two down._

Her position was now compromised and ducked just in time as a shower of bullets rained above her, tearing up the drywall, throwing dust and debris in every direction. With the additional dust screen, she kept herself hidden, sprinting through the maze of dividers and cubicles.

"Fan out!" one called out.

They were trying to secure the perimeter to surround her. Like she will let that happen so easily. Instead of moving away from their sweeping net, she decided to go on the offensive, opposite of what they were expecting. She deliberately charged into one of the areas a portion of them would advance to, predicting their movements. Sure enough, two armored men ran around the outside of the room, in hopes they could flank her last known position. Because HaSeul decided to take a risk, the two men will be in for a surprise from the bodyguard's bold strategy.

Their backs faced her as they jogged, and she opened fire, spraying a rain of bullets at them. Unfortunately, most of her rounds hit their protective body armor. The small submachine gun bullets seem to punch at their armor, unable to pierce through.

HaSeul cursed under her breath. The execution of her plan ended in failure, they were now rushing her, and the rest were moving in as well. Staying low and pressing herself against the wall kept her head intact as the two men open fire at her cover. She counted a few seconds in her head, listening to their approaching stomps. _Now!_ She launched out and burst into a short sprint, sliding right between them. Not caring about accuracy, she held the trigger in her slide, lighting up one of the guy's crotch area. _Three_, that was going to hurt in the morning.

As HaSeul tried to spring up from the floor and onto her feet, the second man smacked her head with his gun. The world spun for a split second, but she instinctively tackled straight into the gunner through her dazed state. He was caught off guard, and their closed distance didn't allow him to shoot at her or adequately respond. By this time, she shook off her dizziness and shoved the butt of her weapon into the man's nose, a devastating crunch was confirmation to his broken nose. HaSeul grappled his arm and flipped him over, slamming him onto the ground, laying him on his back. With no mercy, she unholstered her pistol, knelt down on his chest and smothered the barrel into the flesh of his face, firing two rounds at point-blank to finish him. _That's four._

Unfortunately, she wasted more time than she initially planned to kill the two, allowing the remaining eight to close in on her position. Not only did she take too long, but she got injured in the process, things were looking grim. She needed to fall back and rethink her next steps.

The bodyguard sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her. Her pistol back in its holster as she tried to reload her machine gun. But her adrenaline was wearing down. The pain in her arm was scalding, the throbbing in her head was hammering, and her vision began to blur. The wound on her shoulder coated her hand in blood, proving reloading to pose more of a challenge as the smooth metal of the magazine became slippery. 

The room was filled with a symphony of guns firing, bullets ricocheting, glass breaking, debris breaking off the walls, and floors. HaSeul still struggled to shove the magazine into her weapon, and maybe that's where she messed up. The blood-smeared ammo casing slipped through her fingers. She stumbled trying to catch it before it hit the ground as she ran, just slowing her down ever so slightly. But that's all it took for a bullet to pierce through her calf and another in her thigh. 

HaSeul helplessly collapsed onto the floor, her body crashed and slid against the marble surface, her firearm thrown across the floor. _It's over for her. This was it._ She wasn't even able to kill half of the squad. Maybe the only positive outcome of this was her body was hidden behind cover, giving just a few more minutes until her impending doom. But that was fine; she could have her last moments thinking of Jungeun. She could die happy, at least.

Just as she closed her eyes, a pair of her hands dragged her body deeper into cover. Confused why she wasn't shot instead, she opened her eyes to a familiar shade of red hair.

"Ms. Wong?!" The head of Blockberry's security had arrived, along with a few others all armed with assault rifles. It looks like the calvary is here.

"Please, just call me Kahei." Her eyes scanned the injuries of HaSeul as she kept talking. "Sorry for the delay, there were a lot of these assholes in the lower floors to prevent us from sending reinforcements."

HaSeul breathed out a sigh of relief, "Did you see HeeJin and HyunJin? They were supposed to head down."

Kahei looked at her puzzled. "No, I haven't seen them."

A sense of panic trickled through the senior bodyguard. She tried to prop herself up, and immediately hissed in pain, reminding her of her severe wounds.

"Woah, take it easy." Kahei then pointed at a guard that stuck to her side. "You, she needs first aid, quickly."

"Yes, ma'am," The security guard obediently knelt over HaSeul and proceeded to provide primary and primitive aid, it was a temporary fix to her fresh wounds preventing any more blood loss.

HaSeul grunted out, as the guard tied off her leg. "We need to clear the area and head up."

"Of course, but we will take it from here. You need to rest." Kahei reassured HaSeul.

~ ~ ~

HyunJin did her best to focus on the task at hand, holding back the tears in her eyes. She didn't want to think about the wellness of her friend that she had to leave behind unwillingly. They needed to find reinforcements or perhaps escape Blockberry. 

Suddenly she heard movement from the stairs below. HyunJin peered down to check who was coming up.

"The target is in the emergency stairwell!" One out of the few men yelled into his radio.

The bodyguard couldn't help but let out an exasperated groan while she pulled HeeJin's arm as they raced back up the stairwell, unsure of where to go next. HyunJin figured they would have to enter one of the floors above and search for a place to hide themselves, hoping to lose their pursuers. 

As they were passing a door in the stairwell, it burst open, and a man broke the two apart, knocking HeeJin down to the ground. The metal door flew into HyunJin, hitting her shoulder and head against the hard surface. Dazed and confused, all she could do was helplessly watch as the intruder towered over HeeJin. A swift kick found a place in HeeJin's stomach and sent her flying down a flight of stairs. HeeJin's body smacked into the wall, stopping her tumble and fall. The impact left her gasping and wheezing for air, clawing the linoleum floor as she struggled to breathe. Her body instinctively curled into a ball, an attempt to protect her bruising abdomen.

HyunJin let out a roar of anger from what she had just witnessed. As if rage had boiled within her and explosively released from her mouth in the form of a howl. It was so unlike her. She was known to be level headed, poised, and calm. But seeing someone inflict pain on HeeJin brought out a side to her that she never knew she had. 

The bodyguard jumped to her feet, and the man seemingly forgot about the bodyguard as he raised his gun to HeeJin's fetal position. HyunJin clenched the man's masked head, almost suffocating him with the fabric by how tight her grip was and forced him to face her. She drove her knee into his groin, the henchmen hurled over in agony from his family jewels being crushed, but HyunJin's firm hold on his head remained. 

There was no doubt in her mind, not a single ounce of hesitation in her next movement, not even the fear of having to end his life. She _wanted_ to kill him, and it wasn't going to be a painless death either. The woman used both hands to take hold of him and, with all her strength, rammed his head into the metal railing. Over and over, his face crashed into the rail. The metal rang out from each impact like a gong being hit repeatedly. There was no stopping, not even after sounds of bone being crushed, and blood began splattering onto the surrounding white surfaces and on her face. 

HyunJin wasn't sure when the man's body had gone limp, and the only thing keeping him standing was her locked grasp on his head. As if the beating wasn't enough of a punishment, she tossed his body over the railing, it was a long way down to the bottom floor, and if his skull being pulverized didn't kill him, the fall surely would. The bodyguard hoped that would also send a message to their pursuers. Perhaps she went a bit overboard with her rage, but he deserved it. No one hurts HeeJin like that and gets away with it.

The bloodlust in her eyes evaporated, the red in her vision faded to normalcy. She brought her attention to the frail figure on the floor. She was relieved HeeJin didn't witness her brutality. It made her anxious that the latter would fear her. HyunJin rushed to HeeJin, practically jumping down the stairs to reach her faster. The bodyguard gently scooped up the smaller girl into her arms, tucking HeeJin's face in between the crook her neck and started running up the stairs again. The men below closed the gap between them and were only a few floors below.

Not caring what floor and room they entered, she found a conference room with a large table in the center. HyunJin gently brought HeeJin down to the raised surface to quickly inspect her injuries. The shorter girl's breathing has started to normalize, much better than the strangled rasps she was letting out previously. The bodyguard unbuttoned HeeJin's blazer and carefully applied pressure to the area she was kicked in. HeeJin took a sharp inhale at the gentle prodding, her tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. "Hyun, it hurts," she managed to exhale in between her pants. 

HyunJin quickly retracted her hand, shooting HeeJin an apologetic look. "I think you have bruised ribs, maybe even a fracture." 

HeeJin had never broken a bone in her body before, but it sure as hell felt like she had now. HyunJin studied HeeJin's face, a gash right below her hairline slowly trickled blood. The taller woman gazed at HeeJin with concern written all over her face, as she carefully wiped the blood that threatened to impair HeeJin's vision. Her touch was so gentle; one would think that if HyunJin used anything more than a featherweight pressure, she would somehow hurt HeeJin.

All the while, HeeJin was lost in HyunJin's eyes. Similar to how the bodyguard would look at her in the past. It brought hope to her that HyunJin still had feelings for her, whether they were the same old feelings, or new feelings gained, it didn't matter. The bodyguard rose to her feet, lending HeeJin her arm to help her up. There must have been a painful bruise somewhere on HeeJin's leg as she stumbled, taking her first few steps when she put her weight on her right foot. The taller woman could only imagine how many more bruises HeeJin sustained underneath her clothing. She wished she had done a better job of protecting her.

As they were prepared to leave, one of the door knob's jiggled ever so slightly. HyunJin whipped out her pistol, making her recall she left the submachine gun in the stairwell when they were attacked earlier. HyunJin didn't even need for the door to be fully open to know friendlies were not coming in. She opened fire, shooting a few rounds through the wood door, but the intruders were left unbothered as they continued to breach in. 

A few men entered the room, the point henchman held up a dead comrade, literally using the corpse as a human shield to take HyunJin's first few bullets. As the door swung open two more men separated from the point guard and raised their weapons. The bodyguard slid in front of HeeJin and pushed her towards the other door so she could escape as HyunJin fired with her free hand. "Run!"

HyunJin's first couple of shots hit one of the men in the neck and then a headshot. Right after she killed the first, she focused her aim to the next man as he shot out a burst of bullets. Only one of them hit their marks as HyunJin's aim was superior, her shots finding a new home in the man's chest.

The third man drops his human shield and raises his weapon as HyunJin starts to rush him. Out of the corner of the bodyguard's eye, a blur of a shadow ran past the two fighting, not realizing there was one more person now chasing HeeJin, she cursed under her breath. HyunJin didn't have time to play around with this thug, _HeeJin needs her_. The bodyguard rounds a kick, knocking the weapon from his hands and pulls the trigger as she faces him.

*Click*

Their fight should have been over right there, but her gun jammed. HyunJin could practically see the smirk form through his black mask. Luck was on his side. She briskly cocks the slide of her weapon back to clear the jammed bullet shell from the chamber, but she was too slow. The man flashed out a curved blade and swiped towards her. She managed to step back to avoid a lethal blow but was left with a gash in her forearm, causing her to drop her firearm. 

HyunJin gave up on using her pistol, this man knew how to fight, and there was no way he would let her retrieve it. Accepting the challenge, she unsheathed her tactical knife from her backside. 

~ ~ ~

It took all of HeeJin's will to leave HyunJin behind. She only wanted to do as she was told. The brunette was scared that if she hesitated it may have complicated things. And HyunJin knew what would be best right? She will be ok. She _had_ to be ok. HeeJin wouldn't be able to live with herself if HyunJin died. Without her, she is not even sure she would have the will to live. 

Brushing her dark thoughts away, she needed to concentrate on getting away. Focusing on taking each step as she limp-ran to wherever. Focusing on each restrained breath, she took to prevent her lungs from excessively expanding to avoid the sharp pain she felt whenever her cracked ribs prodded her lungs. 

HeeJin wasn't sure where she was going, but she needed to get to safety and maybe hide until HyunJin came back to her. Despite living in this building for most of her life, she wasn't familiar with the floor she was in. The hallways were unrecognizable, and it didn't help that the darkened space made it that much more difficult. Eventually, she came to a dead-end, with no luck finding rooms to hide in, as most of the doors were locked. She spun on her heel only to freeze in place.

A silhouette stood at the end up the hallway, a pistol in hand. The shadow slowly stalked towards her. It took its time taking each step as if it were enjoying emanating the fear their presence brought to HeeJin. She couldn't move, her legs wouldn't budge at the sight before her. As the figure came forward and stopped under the dim lighting, her eyes bulged out, wishing this was just another of her recurring dreams.

The imagery that has haunted her for years, a vision she wanted to forget for years, has become a reality. It was the same man in her nightmares. The same figure that approached her that fateful night years ago. The same lifeless beady eyes that left her powerless. The same damn pigeon head that haunted her dreams daily. The same entity of horror that killed her parents.

Her mind desperately screamed at her limbs to move, to run away. To do literally anything but just stand there like a scared little girl. But her body was petrified in terror, refusing to react in any logical sense. HeeJin was absolutely and utterly paralyzed, frozen as if the man had compelled her to remain unmoving. Her knees began to shake uncontrollably, barely able to keep her own weight up. Her breathing became panicked and sporadic. The pain from each breath didn't register in her mind but caused her to start gasping for air.

The man peeled off his mask, revealing a joyous smirk splitting his facial features. His face wasn't anyone she recognized, but it was undoubtedly one she will remember for the rest of her...well maybe the remainder of her life won't last much longer now.

"It's good to see you again, Jeon HeeJin."

~ ~ ~

The man lunged forward, hurling his knife towards HyunJin. She stopped the blade from hitting her neck, using her forearm to block his arm, preventing his full swing from reaching her. The bodyguard swung her blade, and he merely stepped and leaned back to avoid the sharp edge. They each traded swings, blocking and dodging their attempts at finding blood from their opponent. 

Each attempted attack was meant to kill, meant to slice at their neck, to slash major arteries, or stab at vital organs. The force of each swing would surely leave bruises along HyunJin's forearms, but that was undoubtedly better than receiving any kind of knife wound. It wasn't long before the woman's movements became more rushed, a bit brasher and less controlled. She didn't have time for this; she needed to end this sooner. HeeJin needs her. For all HyunJin knows, she could be dead, and here she is stuck playing with knives. 

The man took notice of the slight changes in the bodyguard's demeanor and used it to his advantage. He wanted to cause frustration and desperation to HyunJin. The more he did, the more chances mistakes would be made by the woman. Her closely tight-knit defense began to crack; her openings for errors were growing wider and wider. 

At some point, HyunJin realized her movements have slowed, her strength weakening at each swing and block. The shallow cuts on her arms and legs were finally noticed when her blood-soaked her shirt. She was unsure when his blade ever touched her skin amidst their duel, but it was apparent that he was slowly winning this fight.

Wanting to end this combat, HyunJin thrust her knife towards his neck, only for it to be halted by his knife. Both kept themselves locked on each other's blade as the man overpowered the bodyguard's rush and drove her against the wall. He used his free hand to grab the sleeve of her knife arm, preventing her from attacking and drove his knife back to take a strike at her. HyunJin drops her weapon and twists her arm, slipping out of the sleeves and spun out of her kevlar jacket. He misses the vital neck artery he aimed for, and his blade finds a jarring stab against the hard stone wall, breaking his knife.

Amid their duel, he grabbed HyunJin's pistol from the ground and aimed. HyunJin grappled around his arm, forcing the barrel away from her. She reached towards the familiar features of her gun, releasing the magazine from the weapon and using her other hand to push the slide back, ejecting the loaded bullet from the chamber. Just in the knick of time, the man pulled the trigger at her, only to be confused that it didn't fire, not realizing HyunJin already unloaded the weapon. The bodyguard twisted his arm, making him yelp out in pain, freeing her pistol from his grasp.

With her pistol back in her hands, she reached for a fresh magazine and loaded the gun. The man scrambled, tackling the bodyguard to the ground, making her fire out to the ceiling. They both fought for control over the loaded weapon, a couple of shots firing out as they struggled for dominance. One bullet grazed the woman's arm and another blowing out the man's eardrums. HyunJin headbutted the man's nose, and blood gushed onto her forehead from the impact, she contorted his wrists to weaken his grip. With less resistance fighting her, she shoved the barrel into his neck and pulled the trigger.

~ ~ ~

"You have grown up to be such a beautiful young lady, I'm sure your parents must be proud." the murderer mocked and knowingly laughed, implying the death of her parents was from his hands.

HeeJin did her best to hold back her tears, to push the fear away from her mind. She wouldn't allow him the satisfaction of seeing her in terror. Even though she struggled to stop the trembling in her legs, she glared at him as anger began to rise in her eyes. If only she had a weapon, a gun. She would end his life in a heartbeat, not caring about her well being. All that mattered was from him to pay for his crimes. 

"It's almost a shame I will have to end you." He eyed her from head to toe, the look in his eyes disgusted HeeJin, made her feel uncomfortable and exposed. She wasn't even dressed in revealing clothing, but she knew what predatory eyes were like.

Ignoring the disturbing feeling in her chest, she just wanted to know. "Why are you doing this?" her exasperated tone rang out in the still air. 

The killer chuckled. "Sorry, sweetheart. The client has asked me to keep it under wraps." 

This must be the end of the road for HeeJin. Her life is about to end. And the worst part about it was she never found the reason why all these terrible things happened to her. She didn't even know why she was being pursued. Why her parents had to die. Why innocent lives were involved. 

She never got HyunJin's memories back. She couldn't confess her love to HyunJin for the last time. HeeJin had somehow forgotten about her bodyguard until now. Where is she? She hasn't come back. She isn't dead, right? Her eyes began to tear at the thought of HyunJin's death.

_Does it matter if she isn't alive anymore?_

"Say hi to your parents for me."

She saw the blurry figure raise his arm. His gun pointed straight at her. HeeJin clenches her eyes shut. 

_HyunJin_

*BANG* 

Time seemed to freeze, the stillness in the air was stifling. Somehow, the silence was more deafening than the gunfire. _Was she dead now? HeeJin slowly pried her eyes open, and instead of the murderer, she spotted HyunJin standing before her. One arm dangling and useless against her side, her other holding her pistol with smoke rising from the barrel. Her kevlar blazer was nowhere to be seen, displaying her what used to be a white button-down shirt, was now splatters and spills of vibrant crimson. She limped over, only making it halfway to Heejin before falling to her knee. _

__

__

_It was finally over. _

HyunJin struggled to get up and forced her body to comply with her demands. She came limping towards HeeJin, and a small smile crept on her face. She made it just in time. HeeJin was safe; she was still here, alive. A second slower and the outcome would have been...She shook her head, not wanting to think how close she was to losing HeeJin.

HeeJin did her best to restrain herself from tackling HyunJin in an embrace. The shorter woman cautiously snaked her arms around the taller woman confirming they were both actually alive and wary of HyunJin's injuries. HeeJin let out a small whimper, slightly tightening her embrace. "I was so scared, Hyun."

The bodyguard used her good arm to caress HeeJin's head. "I know it's ok. I'm here. You're safe."

HeeJin shook her head, "I was scared you were dead." She let tears fall and nuzzled into HyunJin's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm here now, HeeJin. I'm ok, just a little beat up." HyunJin whispered softly in her ear, reassuring HeeJin that she is alive and well.

HeeJin brought her face up from HyunJin's shoulder and warmly beamed at her. But the corners of her eyes darted to the killer's body. Her smile fell, as he was raising his pistol up, taking aim towards them. Towards HyunJin's backside.

She shoved HyunJin to the side, forcing the bodyguard to crash onto the ground. As HyunJin was falling, they locked eyes with each other. Her eyes displayed a panicked look of confusion at HeeJin's apologetic teary eyes.

The most piercing gunshot echoed throughout the hallway.

A bullet went straight to HeeJin's heart, and her body immediately crumpled to the ground like a lifeless ragdoll.

~ ~ ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yahello! Did you guys notice the little extra Photoshop effort for this chapter's cover? Haha, that's not very important, but still hoped you guys liked it, and of course, hoped you all enjoyed reading this chapter! I tried to get this chapter done as soon as I could, it was originally supposed to be part of the last chapter, but I felt it was too long and wanted to update sooner so I split them. 


	13. Love & Live

~ ~ ~

** _Five Years Later_ **

~ ~ ~

HyunJin solemnly took her first steps in the dreary and grim field of upright granite and marble. Her grip tightened around the stems of flowers she brought as each step caused anxiety to sink in her heart as she approached her destination making her way through countless columns and rows of stone.

HyunJin felt ashamed that she hadn't visited her gravestone in years. She couldn't even remember the last she had, but finally had the courage to do so.

She took her last step and silently stared at the tomb before her. It was a long few minutes of silence. The autumn breeze sent chills through the woman's skin. The air somehow felt colder in the area where the dead rested. She remained standing, staring at the engraved name as if they were reuniting once again. 

She knelt down, placing the flowers beside her leg. "Hey," She quietly breathed out.

"I miss you a lot." HyunJin paused as if waiting to hear a response from her dead loved one. 

"I know it's been a while, years too long, and I know that's my fault, but I have been meaning to catch up with you." HyunJin brushed off the fallen dead leaves that cluttered the grave. As if the leaves themselves fell to this place of resting, the trees seemingly knew this field was for the former living. The shedding of lifeless leaves reflected the lack of life, the once green petals shriveled and cracked as they faded to dull browns to return to the earth.

HyunJin took a few deep breaths and continued her one-sided conversation. "I met someone. I love her very much, she means so much to me, and she makes me really happy." A tear slipped past the dam she built up. "I know you would like her. She's really sweet and kind." She let out an airy laugh. "She's also a huge dork, and she's such a loser."

She let the silence settle in the air around her, allowing herself to take a few deep breaths. "I can't imagine my life without her."

"You're probably asking why she isn't here today. She couldn't make it today; she's out of town for work. And besides, it's been so long since I last visited. I wanted it to be just the two of us talking." Hyunjin fidgeted a bit, "I will properly introduce you to her next time."

Another pause stifled the air as she gathered herself. "I can already hear you lecturing on how I'm being overprotective for her."

"I know you were against me being a bodyguard, so I'm sure you will be relieved to hear that I found a different profession." The former bodyguard laughs to herself. "Maybe I should have started out as a baker, to begin with. You are already familiar with my obsession with bread." She took a moment to breathe in, the dam she struggled to keep up began to fail as her tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"Uhm. I think that's enough for today. I promise I will visit sooner next time." HyunJin carefully placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the tombstone. "I love you."

~ ~ ~

"YeoJin, you better behave. You will be staying with Auntie Aeongie tonight." The mom lectured her daughter from the driver seat.

The young girl swung her arms out across her chest, attempting to cross her fingers. "Dat's Lil' Yeo to you."

Jungeun scoffed in amusement. "I thought you hated being called Lil', sweetie." 

The toddler was left in a stupor for a moment. "Dey call me Y-Yeo-Yeo on the streets." She corrected herself.

"Seulie, your daughter is pretending to be a G again."

HaSeul gasped in mock offense, bringing her hand to her chest. "My daughter? She's your daughter, too, you know."

The brunette teased, "Yeah, but only your side can be that lame."

"We all know that I'm the cool, Mommy." The shorter mom turned to face her daughter. "Right, Yeo-Yeo." 

"Mommy is cool! Mama is lame, and she makes me eat broccoli" The soon-to-be four-year-old gags with her tongue sticking out.

Jungeun grumbled out a sigh. "Well, someone needs to be the strict Mama around here."

"And you know we love you for it." HaSeul places a ginger kiss on Jungeun's cheek. 

"Ewwww." YeoJin covered her eyes from the backseat, witnessing her parents being soft. "Mommy, you're going to catch Mama's lame!"

The family of three found their way to a familiar bakery, Aeong Breadery, and parked in a spot near the entrance. "Aeong! Aeong! Aeong!" YeoJin repeatedly yelled out as she raced inside after HaSeul released the restraints of her car seat.

The younger mother let out a sigh. "I really hope she doesn't say aeong all day when we pick her up tomorrow."

"Oh, hush, you know it's cute." HaSeul slipped her arms with Jungeun's, linking them together, she curled into her shoulder as they walked inside.

HyunJin resigned from bodyguarding after the incident five years ago. She didn't want to go through anything like that again and decided to pursue a career she would enjoy. Of course, the bread obsessed woman chose to be a baker and started her own bakery. Her taste for bread was impeccable, and it didn't take long for her to master the craft and art of baking. There was more than enough bloodshed on her hands. 

HaSeul also followed suit, finally realizing a stable relationship with Jungeun was more important than anything to her. She didn't want any more complications between them that could threaten their love. After she recovered from her injuries, she retired as a bodyguard and co-owned the bakery with HyunJin. The two former bodyguards stuck together and made a great team. HaSeul handled the financial and business aspect while HyunJin baked all the goods and managed the menu. Shortly after starting her new life, HaSeul proposed to Jungeun, and now they are happily married.

_Jungeun couldn't sleep, worried over her girlfriend once she read the text that was last sent to her. The simple text that was supposed to display HaSeul's love seemed ominous, more like a goodbye. As if their parting was too painful to admit, the older woman was afraid to bid farewell for good. _

__

__

_The brunette called over and over, only to be brought straight to HaSeul's voice mail. Jungeun rushed to the hospital, after receiving a call from Kahei late at night, that HaSeul was severely injured. The worst thoughts arose from her. Her fears were becoming a reality. She would lose HaSeul. This was why she didn't approve of HaSeul's profession, why Jungeun cried, and begged HaSeul to quit her life-risking job._

_She burst through the doors, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes at the sight of HaSeul. Her girlfriend was wrapped in bloodied bandages over her chest, arm, and leg. She wanted to be furious, wanted to be mad at the bodyguard that almost died. But she couldn't; she only cried tears of relief that HaSeul was still alive. Jungeun ran into HaSeul's arms, hugging her tightly, shedding tears into her chest. _

_HaSeul ignored the pain and aches from being held too tight. It didn't matter, the warmth of Jungeun's embrace was worth it, and she felt ever so grateful to be back in her girlfriend's arms. The bodyguard shed tears, she wasn't ready to die back then, and she thanked her lucky stars that she survived to return home._

A tiny bell jingled as the married couple entered, waking HaSeul from her thoughts. YeoJin was already bouncing up and down, unable to contain her excitement. Her mouth watered at the display of sweets and baked goods. The older mom smiled at her little girl and the warmth of her co-owned bakery. Sure it is relatively small, lined with a few tables and chairs, only enough to seat a few handfuls of people, but it brought upon a homey and cozy feel. The place was lit with soft, warm lights, paired with natural lighting that fell from their large window. The decor used was a bit rustic, the furniture a bit vintage looking yet still inviting with plants and greens scattered throughout the interior. The elderly enjoyed tea and warm bread, while students studied for hours sipping their coffee and nibbled on sweet pastries. HaSeul was more than satisfied with her new life, especially with the family she started with Jungeun. 

HyunJin walked from the kitchen to the counter and vibrantly smiled and welcomed the lovely family, making sure to wash the flour off her hands before she went to hug them. "Hey, Jungeun and HaSeul!" She turned to face YeoJin and ruffled her hair. "And aeong to you."

"Aeong!" The toddler responded, her eyes not straying from the delicious goods. 

Jungeun and HaSeul both went for a hug, embracing their younger friend. "Sorry for the last-minute favor." Jungeun started, "Thank you so much for watching our Yeojin." HaSeul finished their sentence.

HyunJin released a chuckle. "Anytime! The little devil adds some excitement to my life."

HaSeul smacks her arm playfully. "Don't say that about our daughter. If anything, she's just a baby monster."

"Is that any better?" Jungeun reprimanded.

HaSeul stuck her tongue out to her wife. The three adults laughed as YeoJin looked at them curiously, finally breaking her gaze from the food.

"Ok, stop being losers and just go already. You already know that YeoJin will abandon you both and want to stick with me instead." the baker teased.

Jungeun rolled her eyes as HaSeul drew fake tears beneath her eyes with an adorable pout. The couple said their goodbyes, leaving gentle kisses on YeoJin's cheeks and left. The young girl was no stranger to the breadery. HaSeul would often bring her and let her help around or even make some overly sweet creations, which Jungeun never approved of because the already hyper YeoJin would be more of a disaster back home.

There were only a few more hours until closing, and the day has been a bit slow. HyunJin let YeoJin play with some scrap dough, giving her something to create whatever she wanted with the perfectly kneaded dough. The child attempted to make little frogs out of the scraps, at least they were supposed to be, but after being baked, they looked more like giant blobs of fluffy carbs.

"Auntie Aeongie, where's Auntie Kiki?" The toddler pouted wondering why the other woman hasn't visited them yet.

"What, I'm not enough for you?" HyunJin playfully grinned. 

YeoJin stuck her tongue out, just like HaSeul did earlier. "You a big meanie head." The little girl bantered with the woman.

A gasp escaped from HyunJin's mouth, faking offense, "After all the bread I feed you, I'm mean?!"

They playfully toss flour at each other, making a mess of the kitchen. After their mini food fight, the baker starts to regret her actions after realizing that someone will have to clean up the powdered covered counters and floors. That someone being her.

After cleaning up their mess, HyunJin closes up shop and leads YeoJin to her car so they could head back home. The two were both exhausted, HyunJin was happy she didn't have to deal with the hyperactive girl at home. Though, YeoJin put up a bit of a fight to stay awake. The girl was stubborn to see her other Auntie before she went to bed, but eventually, she succumbed to her sleepiness. HyunJin made sure YeoJin had her bath and prepared her for bed.

"I want to see Auntie Kiki," The small girl sleepily whined as she was being tucked in.

HyunJin sat by her bedside and brushed back YeoJin's fraying baby hairs behind her ear. "I promise she will be home by the time you wake up. You can see her first thing in the morning."

Little YeoJin softly nodded and drifted to sleep. The baker laid a soft kiss on the girl's forehead and quietly left her room, leaving a crack in the door to hear her gentle snores.

HyunJin decided to get ready for bed as well, taking a quick shower and changing into sweatpants and an oversized long sleeve shirt. She dropped herself onto the living couch and decided to read a book while waiting for her lover's return home. 

After a couple of hours of reading, her eyelids grew heavy, her head nodded back and forth as she tried to stay awake, but not long after, HyunJin dozed off into her slumber.

~ ~ ~

_Time moved as if it was in slow motion. HyunJin witnessed HeeJin's body collapse to the ground. Her eyes were left wide-open in desperation, realizing that HeeJin selfishly sacrificed herself to save her. _

__

__

_The bodyguard pulled out her pistol and without any hesitation-_

_*BANG*_

_*BANG*_

_*BANG*_

_*BANG*_

_*click click click*_

_HyunJin emptied the rest of the bullets left in her gun at the killer, each hot piece of lead landed into his head. Even though the magazine was empty, she repeatedly pulled the trigger, wishing it had more bullets. As if shooting the dead body repeatedly would kill him, even in his afterlife or in his next life. _

_Her gun slipped from her fingers as she dropped herself on the ground next to HeeJin's body. _

_Tears were welling up in her eyes, HyunJin's heart was in such tormenting pain, her hands were trembling over HeeJin's face. Her voice came out utterly broken, struggling to voice anything out. "HeeJ-"_

_Suddenly, her mind was overwhelmed with an overflowing sensation that she never experienced before. Like a rush of water gushing into her mind, her tangled memories started to unravel. It was as if the blockade that sealed her lost memories was finally torn down, and they all poured out, like water, flooding, and filling all the vacant portions in her head. _

_It all came back to her. _

_The moment HyunJin and HeeJin found themselves on the ground when they first met. The night HeeJin shared first kiss experience. When HyunJin lost and eventually found HeeJin's precious family photo. The time HeeJin trusted HyunJin enough to share her past, their first embrace, their first kiss, their first night together, and how she protected HeeJin… but now their roles reversed, HeeJin protected her._

_Now that all her precious moments returned to her. She realized how hard it was for HeeJin these past few months. It was almost agonizing recalling how hard HeeJin was trying to spark something inside of her, to somehow make her remember their time together. It tore at her heart, seeing how much HeeJin had to hold back when she was with her. How there was always sadness behind her smile, how desperate her eyes looked whenever she gazed into HyunJin's, trying to find any light of hope of repairing their broken relationship._

_But what good is it all now? _

_If anything, HyunJin wished her memories never returned because she wouldn't have to endure the pain that wracked her heart now. To have her memories back only for HeeJin, the girl she was in love with, now lay motionless. She called out to her loved one in a broken voice._

_"Heekki."_

_"Heekki."_

~ ~ ~

"HyunJin."

"Hyun, wake up."

The former bodyguard startles awake from her dream, taking a moment to be cognitive where she was. Her eyes scanned the room, realizing it was her living room, her warm and cozy home, not that wretched cold and dark hallway at Blockberry from years ago.

"You were restlessly tossing and turning. Were you having that dream again?" The deep soothing voice instantly calmed HyunJin. 

She didn't have to make any visual confirmation as to who was speaking to her. HyunJin wrapped herself around the other woman, kissing her in the lips. She dragged them into the couch and covered themselves with each other's arms. HyunJin was left breathless from their fervent kisses, "I missed you so much, Heekki."

HeeJin leaned her forehead against the taller woman's and smiled, "I missed you too, BreadJin." 

"And yes, I had that nightmare again." HyunJin retorted. She occasionally dreamt of that fateful night five years ago. Reliving the past that almost tore her apart from the love of her life. She could never forget the moment she almost lost HeeJin. It haunted her dreams every now and then. "I still hate you for doing that, by the way."

"You're welcome for saving your life." HeeJin giggled. "I'm exhausted babe, let's go to bed. I already checked on YeoJin, and she is still sound asleep."

The taller woman sleepily nodded as she rubbed her eyes, noting how her girlfriend had already changed her clothes and gotten ready for bed. Her hand trailed down HeeJin's arm, finding her hand to intertwine their fingers. She lazily tugged at HeeJin towards their bedroom, and HyunJin fell into the bed, dragging HeeJin to fall on top of her. They both revealed loving smiles as they gazed into each other's eyes. 

The taller woman's fingers brushed back her girlfriend's hair as her eyes trailed up to see HeeJin's scar below her hairline. HyunJin's brown orbs flickered a tinge of sadness from when HeeJin was kicked down the stairs. She immediately pressed a kiss over the healed wound and held her girlfriend closer. HyunJin could now sleep soundly knowing HeeJin was in her embrace. The shorter woman smushed her cheek against HyunJin's chest, gazing up at her girlfriend's sleeping figure. Her eyes traced HyunJin's soft facial features, a sight that calmed her yet made her heart race at the same time. The last few years were a bit rough, but she was glad that she chose to risk her life to save HyunJin's.

~ ~ ~

_HyunJin slumped over HeeJin's motionless figure. Tears rained from her eyes one by one until they continued to form a river down her cheeks. Her lip uncontrollably quivered. She couldn't even call out her name anymore. She wanted this to be a horrible nightmare._

__

__

_After a few moments of dreadful silence, leaving HyunJin's cries to echo in the dark hallway, HeeJin's mouth suddenly breathes in a sharp gasp of air._

_HyunJin freezes, her froze midway. "Heekki?" _

_HeeJin harshly coughs a few times, gripping the pain in her chest, but still manages to unveil a smile on her lips. "You finally remembered." She choked out her words, her voice raspy and hoarse, but she could care less how she sounded as HyunJin hasn't called her by her pet name in what seems like an eternity._

_HyunJin flushed away her tears of grief and began to cry tears of joy and relief. She cradled HeeJin's head gently in her arms and pressed her forehead against her lover's. _

_HeeJin began to sob with HyunJin; it was a mixture of glee and agony. The impact of the bullet did a number on her, but happiness overwhelmed the pain of her newly broken ribs. "I missed you so much, BreadJin."_

_The bodyguard cautiously placed her hand over HeeJin's chest, pinpointing where her lover's heart should have been pierced with a bullet. Her fingers traced around a frayed circle of the fabric where the bullet impacted, only to find that the lump of metal burrowed itself into the kevlar vest. _

_HyunJin released a chuckle of relief, as more tears streamed down her face. "Don't do anything stupid like that again, you dumb bunny."_

_HeeJin cracked a grin, "Wow, I take a bullet for you, which hurt like hell by the way, and all you can do is insult and scold me?"_

_The two giggled as HyunJin pulled away a bit, making sure this was real, that Heejin was alive and that she wasn't hiding any other possible lethal injuries. _

_HeeJin placed a hand on HyunJin's cheek, softly caressing it as she looked into the warm dark orbs above her. How she longed to see those eyes that gazed back in hers in return, that stared at her in loving grace. The same eyes that watched over her all this time. The eyes that gave her butterflies when they formed into perfect crescents as she vibrantly smiled. She knew her HyunJin was back. And just like their first kiss, HeeJin pulled on HyunJin's collar so that they're lips and hearts could finally reunite once again. _

_An incredible wave rolled through HyunJin; her heart was finally relieved from its prison of doubt and lost memories. It was as if her life had been black and white ever since she woke up from her coma, and now, everything was vividly in color, everything in perspective, it all became clear. The world she saw with her eyes became bright and new, and nothing looked the same, not when she was with HeeJin. _

_Their hearts longed for this kiss. Neither body of lips wanted to break apart their reunion, but breathing was apparently important too. It was a good way to finally say the words that they have wanted to say all this time._

_"I love you, Jeon HeeJin."_

_"I love you too, Kim HyunJin."_

~ ~ ~

Their happy reunion wasn't all smooth sailing after the incident. Jaden was nowhere to be found soon after the terrorist attack at Blockberry, leaving Heejin to step up as CEO earlier than planned and having to deal with the aftermath.

When she first became CEO, she gained clearance to delve into the company's history and discovered large portions of the company that she wasn't pleased about. She didn't know if her biological father started it or if it was influenced by Jaden, who was originally her father's business partner. You could say the dark side of the company heavily invested and developed military arms and sold them to countries that probably shouldn't have that kind of power. 

After digging through hundreds of records and files, the new CEO found documentation of her biological father trying to pull out of the arms business around the time he was assassinated. When Jaden took the head of the company, he continued and pushed for arms development, which caused rapid growth for Blockberry. As soon as there was a whim of HeeJin becoming CEO, there must have been fear that she would want to stop the arms business just like her father. Perhaps that was the reason hired assassins killed her parents and attempted to kill her too.

HeeJin wasn't sure what to think of Jaden with this newfound information. She wanted to despise him, hate him, and blame him for everything. She couldn't help but speculate that perhaps he was even the mastermind behind it all. But the main reason she wanted to hate him was that she has always loved and seen him as a father figure in her life after the death of her biological father. Jaden suddenly leaving her life was basically like losing a father twice, and she didn't want to have to relive that heartbreak again. 

She sold the arms portion of the company off to the nation's military, hoping they would regulate things better. She didn't have the heart to tear it down, because many people would have lost their jobs. Blockberry lost a substantial amount of shareholders, from the loss of the arms business, it was no longer a large conglomerate like it's former glory, but she was fine with it. Instead, she focused on a new direction for the company. She took the remaining fortune and decided to delve into the entertainment industry.

HeeJin decided to refresh the company's name a bit from Blockberry to Blockberry Creative. She decided to keep the namesake her original father left but wanted to make it clear that the company wasn't like the old one.

The CEO was torn from her morning thoughts when she felt HyunJin move under her arms. The taller woman groggily muttered a weak good morning and gently kissed the crown of HeeJin's head. HeeJin snuggled deeper into the crook of her girlfriend's neck after she stole a quick kiss at HyunJin's jawline. 

Luckily YeoJin slept in; the young child they were caring for was still slumbering, so the couple had a few moments of peace before the child would excite their morning.

"I'm sorry I couldn't go with you when you visited your mother's grave." HeeJin felt awful; she couldn't be there with HyunJin for such an emotional and touching reunion. 

HyunJin cooed with reassurance, "It's ok, Heekki. I think it was more proper for us to talk one-on-one. But next time, I will take you to meet her." She gained a nod in response from the latter.

It had been about seven years since HyunJin's mother died. Her mom was her sole relative, but they had a fallout somewhere along the way, especially when HyunJin's mother disapproved of her career choice.

"And besides, you had to go to LA for the music video shooting. How was that, by the way?" HyunJin wanted to keep the spirits between them on a positive note.

"Oh, Hyun, you would have loved it! I wish I could have brought you with me!"

The taller woman smiled and urged her loved one to elaborate.

Bound with excitement, HeeJin relived her adventure, recalling all the fun moments she had. "Well, our first days, we let the idols have fun and warm up to the summer beaches of LA. We went to the pier in Santa Monica, and they had so much fun! They even rode on a roller coaster, but it was hilarious seeing the two older girls being traumatized while the maknae wanted to keep riding."

HyunJin intently listened to HeeJin's story, loving how much her girlfriend smiled in glee as she drew a picture of their story out of the country. How the new idols had limitless potential and talent when it was their first time filming a music video. Even though the small idol group came from an unknown company in the entertainment industry, the group quickly gained traction and dedicated fans. 

The music industry hasn't quite seen anything like this group, and it was surprising that their popularity spread like wildfire internationally. BBC's first group was Odd Eye Circle or OEC for short. It was made up of only three members: Kim Lip, Blue Betta, and Choerry. HeeJin gave them stage names and had them revealed as solo artists before having them debut as a group, and the recent MV shooting was the perfect way to announce their presence to the world. The CEO was excited to continue with her venture in the entertainment industry and even had another group planned out. The new idols would debut in a similar manner as yyxy.

"And get this, even Kahei had trouble taming the youngsters." HeeJin giggled at the thought of the redheaded woman struggling to keep their young idols from being too chaotic.

Kahei remained as head of security, though it was nothing like her time in the former Blockberry. She manned and led the security team for BBC's idols whenever they traveled, performed at concerts, or participated in variety shows. The change of pace was relaxing for Kahei, and she was more than grateful for it.

It wasn't long until the couple's moment of catching up was interrupted by a little YeoJin barging into the room.

"Auntie Kiki!!!" The little girl screamed out and jumped onto the bed, straight into HeeJin's arms.

The woman reflected the little girl's glee and gave her a welcoming hug. "Lil' Yeo, I missed you!"

The toddler pouted, "It's Yeo-Yeo now!"

HeeJin let out a huff and wanted to correct the girl as well. "Then, I'm Auntie Heekki."

YeoJin furiously shook her head, denying the correction. "Kiki!" 

Maybe one day she will get it right, well, at least it was still a cute name.

Throughout the morning, YeoJin followed HeeJin around the house as if she were her tail. Even if HeeJin was performing mundane chores like fixing their beds and folding some laundry, the little girl was stuck to her like glue and attempted to help, keyword, attempted. It didn't help that the toddler brought out HeeJin's playful side. Instead of neatly smoothing out the bedsheets on top of the mattress, the two would throw pillows at each other, YeoJin bounced everywhere around the room, and eventually, a missed shot would land in HyunJin's face, dragging her into the fray. While they folded clothes, HeeJin would encourage YeoJin to try on their much too large clothing on the smaller girl and pretend the child was a runway model. The young child was sure to pick up some bad habits from her cool aunties, and Jungeun would scold them later for it. But HyunJin loved seeing the two being so carefree, especially for HeeJin, she has been through so much hardship and isolation, she deserved to be happy. 

Their morning was spent with constant laughter, it eventually consumed all of the child's energy, and she was out for a nap. HeeJin carried the tiny girl to their couch, cocooning her with her favorite blanket, and HyunJin couldn't help but to warmly smile at the touching imagery. HeeJin would definitely make a great mother..._HyunJin would like to start a family too_. Sure, she and HeeJin have talked about it, but their lives have been so hectic these past few years. HyunJin changed her career and needed to train to be a baker and eventually to open up her breadery, a huge thanks to HeeJin for helping her fund most of it. HeeJin had to step up as CEO of her parent's company and deal with the aftermath and birth of her new company. Things have finally settled for them; maybe it was time for a new chapter in their lives, but this time in unison.

It only made sense to pick up from where they left off. HeeJin and HyunJin weren't married yet, but they lived together for years as if they were. Jungeun and HaSeul got married only a few months after HaSeul fully healed. The former bodyguard popped the question as soon she could, and then they immediately wanted to start a family. SooYoung and Jiwoo were wed just recently, and they were currently out on their honeymoon in Hungary. Her dear friends Chaewon and Hyejoo are engaged and were planning their wedding, which reminds HyunJin she still needed to buy them a wedding gift. Then there was JinSoul and Yerim, though Yerim is still taking her doctorate and wanted to graduate first, HyunJin knew they would eventually be joined for life. 

All of their close friends have progressed and taken the next step in their relationships. It made it feel like HeeJin and HyunJin were at a standstill. HyunJin stared at her bare ring finger and then back to HeeJin's ringless finger. She nodded to herself with determination. She had bought an engagement ring a couple of years back. The baker knew she wanted to marry HeeJin and that she was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind. HyunJin basically fell for HeeJin when they first met, not to mention when she lost her memories she practically could feel herself fall for HeeJin all over again. 

HyunJin was left in her daydream until a pair of lips pressed between her knitted brows. "What are you thinking of beautiful?" HeeJin lightly teased.

"You." Her straightforward response summoned a light blush across HeeJin's face.

HyunJin glanced at the date on her phone, and her face instantly lit up. "Let's go on a date tonight!" HyunJin declared, surprising her girlfriend.

HeeJin was speechless by the sudden proposal. Usually, she was the one to come forward about them going on dates. She felt flattered that HyunJin took the initiative this time.

It wasn't long until Jungeun and HaSeul came to pick up their sleeping daughter. The mothers knew that YeoJin had slept too long, and they were probably in for a late-night because the little one had slept too much during the day, but they knowingly knew that tonight was going to be a special night for the other couple after they both received a text from HyunJin.

As the adults embraced each other and bid each other a quick farewell, HaSeul shot HyunJin a wink while carrying YeoJin, and Jungeun popped a grinning thumbs up. HeeJin didn't let this slip by her; as the two were acting suspiciously, it seemed like she was the only one left in the dark. Perhaps they would explain later, but now she was budding with excitement for their date.

~ ~ ~

The night air was cooled with a chilly autumn breeze. A cloudless sky gave way to a bright starry blanket that hung over the city. It was a perfect night for their date, and it had been a while since the couple had dressed up a bit more formally for one as well.

Even though there was no special occasion, HeeJin embellished herself with a simple, yet elegant creamy white dress that fell just to her knees. Folds and bends of fabric decoratively draped across her chest and over her left shoulder. The dress seemed to shimmer and glitter against the soft lighting cast by the street lights illuminating the plaza. 

It was hard for HyunJin to break her habits, as she preferred pantsuits over dresses, but that didn't make her any less stunning. Her slacks were tailored to fit her toned and long legs that matched perfectly with her blazer. For HeeJin, it reminded her of when HyunJin used to be her bodyguard, though it wasn't the familiar uniform she used to wear, HyunJin's suit seemed to amplify the elegant beauty that she graced. 

HyunJin made last-minute reservations at the same Italian restaurant that they went to years ago with SooYoung and Jiwoo. The memories were pleasant ones, oh how unforgettable it was to see HyunJin stuffing her face with bread and bewildered friends' reactions. They have come a long way since then, and now they could create new memories built upon their old ones. 

Dinner and dessert flew by in what felt like an instant. HeeJin wasn't sure how that happened, but she knew that the only thing that mattered was spending time with HyunJin. They haven't had much time to focus solely on their relationship, but things were finally looking up for them. 

After their meal, HeeJin couldn't comprehend what HyunJin was so eager for. The taller woman tugged and pulled her girlfriend as they strut through the city. HeeJin wanted to question what the rush was. But, the determined look on HyunJin's face made her deter her interrogation and decided to wait until they reached their next destination patiently. She just wished she brought a pair of flats if she knew they were going to walk for such an extended period of time.

HyunJin didn't think this through, she was a bit spontaneous and never planned ahead very often. But she couldn't wait anymore, and it had to be done tonight. Even though HyunJin knew how HeeJin would answer, she still grew anxious as each second passed. Her heart began racing, her thoughts were neverending, coming up with hundreds of words to say to HeeJin, but it all just came out as a jumble, unable to breakdown or understood any of it.

Ok, maybe HyunJin should have formed a more cohesive plan. She didn't know what she was doing, why did this thought just come out of her head today?! She had years to plan this, and even friends to ask for advice. Suddenly, the ravenette found herself clueless and lost, but she just had to go with the flow now. 

Tired of waiting, HeeJin questioned her girlfriend. "BreadJin, where are we going?"

The taller woman suddenly stopped in front of a cafe and spun around. She caught HeeJin in her arms, as the shorter woman wasn't expecting for them to halt their speed walking pace. 

"Do you remember this place?" Shyness started to creep into HyunJin's voice, which was very unlike her.

HeeJin looked around her surroundings, scanning the area that seemed familiar to her, years ago. It was where she often would get coffee right before her morning university classes.

"Uhm, I used to get coffee here?" She knew that wasn't the answer that HyunJin wanted, but what else was so special about it?

HyunJin chuckled, "It's a bit ironic that the person that lost their memories is the one that recalls why this place is so important."

That wasn't much a hint for HeeJin, as she was still left confused.

"This is where we first met you, dumb bunny." The taller woman teased her girlfriend, gaining a bashful giggle from her. "And today is the anniversary of when we first met."

"Omo, how do you remember a place like this from all these years!"

"Well, it was probably the most embarrassing thing to happen in my life" This was true. As HyunJin smiled to herself, she stared straight into HeeJin's eyes. "but it was also the start of something beautiful, something I know I will forever cherish."

HeeJin bit her lip as the heat crept up her neck, and a rosy pink flooded her cheeks. HyunJin took hold of HeeJin's small hands, her own completely engulfing the latter's as she softly caressed the back of her girlfriend's hand with her thumbs. They stood in comfortable silence, smiles mixed between shyness and anxiousness.

An airy inhale broke the still air between them. "Jeon HeeJin."

"Uhm, yes?" HeeJin tilted her head to the side, giving her a questionable look.

HyunJin didn't answer, but her intense gaze and fire in her eyes were so passionate it made HeeJin anxious as if she was trying to peer straight into her heart. She had never felt so exposed and bare before, but she wasn't embarrassed about it at all because it was for HyunJin. "What is it, Hyun?" She did her best to urge the taller woman to respond.

HyunJin slowly knelt on one knee, carefully pulling out a small box she had been fiddling within her pocket all night.

The rest of the world was zoned out. The couple was enamored in their special moment. The bustling people were nothing but a blur of motion. The street lights gleamed with soft warmth. Stars twinkled in the dark blanket of night, while the full moon shined down on them as if it were a spotlight. 

Heejin released a small gasp, covering her mouth, tears starting well up in her eyes. "H-Hyun, are you being serious?" The woman weakly managed to say with shakiness in her voice.

The brightest smile spread from ear to ear over HyunJin. She opened the small velvet box revealing a tiny sterling silver band adorning a polished pink diamond nestled in between the cushions.

HyunJin wasn't sure where her mind had gone. For years, her thoughts were restless, noisy, and anxious over this very moment. Ever since she purchased this engagement ring, she prepared many speeches in her head, wrote notes on her phone, and even practiced reciting her proposal in the shower. But when the time finally came, she was left speechless, unable to create tangible words that could possibly explain how wonderful and perfect HeeJin was. But none of that mattered, actions were stronger than words, and they have shown their love throughout the years. They struggled and faced many hardships to get where they are today, but it had only strengthened their bond.

_There were only four words that truly mattered now._ "Will you marry me?"

With tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, Heejin frantically nodded her head, chanting over and over her response. "Yes, yes, yes! A million times, yes!"

Heejin practically pounced onto HyunJin, tackling her girlfriend into the ground, similar to how they met, just reversed. They both had eyes full of watery glee, they were overwhelmed with happiness, as they allowed themselves to ride out the high of their joy. They embraced one another to join as one while they shared a tender yet passionate kiss, it reminded HeeJin of the first time they kissed in her bed, the feeling now was just as magical under the moonlight.

**_~ Fin ~_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, my first fanfic has come to an end! I really hope you guys enjoyed this story, I honestly didn't expect for my first story to gain so much support and readers. I appreciate all of you for taking the time to read! I am bit inexperienced with writing fics, and I hope to keep improving. What were your favorite chapters? Mine are probably Ch 6 Hit&Run and Ch 11 Love&Protect. Anyways, thank you so much! If you enjoy my writing, please check out my other fanfics and look forward to more :)


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